During a crackdown against Venezuela’s opposition party in 2019, Jhon Perez Romero said he received an order he could not follow.⁠
⁠
Perez Romero worked for Venezuela’s national intelligence agency, and his decision to defy his superiors led him to be branded a traitor.⁠
⁠
Fearing he could be killed or thrown in jail for life, he fled his home country, eventually applying for asylum in the United States. He settled in York, Pa., and married a U.S. citizen.⁠
⁠
Today, he sits in an immigration detention center in Central Pennsylvania, after being arrested during a routine check-in with ICE.⁠
⁠
Click the link in our bio for more on this story and the uptick in arrests of immigrants with pending asylum claims.⁠
⁠
📝 by Jeff Gammage / Staff⁠
📸 Courtesy of Daury Salazar