Man who rescued Florida girl from shark attack arrested by ICE, faces deportation

A man who rushed to rescue a nine-year-old girl after a shark attack in Florida is now facing possible deportation.

Published on: Jul 1, 2025, 12:46:35 IST

By Sanya Jain

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A man who rushed to rescue a nine-year-old girl after a shark attack in Florida is now facing possible deportation. Luis Alvarez, 31, helped save the child after she was bitten and seriously injured while swimming, according to a report in Fort Myers News-Press. The dramatic rescue, which took place earlier this month, drew praise from many, but Alvarez’s situation has taken a turn since then.

A man arrested by ICE had helped a shark attack victim in Florida days earlier (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Just days after the incident, Alvarez was stopped by police in the early hours of June 14 in Lehigh Acres, Lee County – about 140 miles northwest of Miami. According to an arrest report seen by the Fort Myers News-Press, officers said he was driving without his headlights on and did not have a valid driver’s licence.

Alvarez is now being held in jail by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and could now face deportation. He is scheduled to be presented before a judge on July 9.

Why was Luis Alvarez arrested?

Police say that Alvarez was pulled over on June 14 at around 1.30am (local time) for driving without his headlights on. When officers asked him for his driving license, he showed them a picture of his Employment Authorization Card on his phone.

Then, speaking in Spanish, Alvarez apparently told cops that he had been living in the United States for two and a half years and had never had a driver’s license. The arrest report said Alvarez is from Boaco, Nicaragua.

How did he help a shark attack victim?

On June 9, nine-year-old Leah Lendel was bitten by a shark while swimming at a Florida beach. Alvarez was the first person to go into the water. He attempted to scare the shark even as it attacked the nine-year-old.

“He jumped in that area to bring her out when I was assisting Leah,” fellow reducer Raynel Lugo told Fox News. “He went deep underwater, not even caring about the shark. He went really deep. He probably faced the shark.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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