Who is Indi Veitia? Asylum seeker's ICE arrest in Atlanta brings ‘chaotic’ immigration enforcement in focus

Indi Veitia, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with a work permit, was detained by ICE at Atlanta airport despite having a pending asylum application.

Donald Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement policy is becoming increasingly chaotic, a CNN report on Thursday revealed.

ICE agents detain two individuals outside a home in Danbury, Connecticut on August 27. (Representational) (REUTERS)

A record number of people have been detained over immigration irregularities under Donald Trump - a promise the 79-year-old had made in his 2024 election agenda. But the vague tactics adopted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are raising concerns among immigrants and asylum seekers who legally remain and work in the US.

At the center of CNN's investigative piece is an Indianapolis, Indiana-based Venezuelan corporate worker, Indi Veitia. ICE arrested the 47-year-old at Atlanta airport over allegations that she overstayed her visa and had to spend 21 days in detention.

Veitia told the outlet that her arrest came as a shock to her as she did "everything correctly" when it came to immigration formalities. Veitia came to the US in 2019 on a work visa and later applied for asylum, the report revealed. Her asylum application was in process pending an interview, with the receipt stating: “You may remain in the US until your asylum application is decided.” She also had a work permit and a driver's license.

Indi Veitia's story resonates with thousands of American asylum seekers who, like her, are awaiting their asylum interviews while still living in the US. Jorge Gavilanes, an immigration lawyer who represented Veitia described people with such status as "low-hanging fruit." They could potentially be rounded up and have to go through the grueling detention process under the Trump administration's "confusing" immigration enforcement, he explained.

Who Is Indi Veitia? Why Is Her ICE Arrest Making Headlines?

Indi Veitia was living in Indiana with her wife, "making friends and raising puppies," the CNN report states, as they waited for her asylum hearing. She worked her way at a clothing company from a warehouse job to a corporate position. Back in Venezuela, she worked at a Japanese multinational company and led Central American operations for them,

Veitia's job requires her to travel around the country, and it was during one such flight from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that Veitia was rounded up by ICE agents. Despite the documents related to her asylum application being in order, she had to spend 21 days at a detention center in Lumkin, Georgia. CNN reports that she got "threadbare towels, a sheet and a uniform" and had to live "in a windowless dorm with more than 60 women, who shared four toilet stalls and four showers."

Veitia's case highlights the potential ordeals that lie ahead for asylum seekers and those on visas in US, given the Trump's stringent immigration enforcement. In response to CNN's query about whether the permission in the asylum application automatically grants legal status, the DHS "did not address the contradiction," the report stated.

“To be clear: a pending application does NOT confer legal status in the United States,” a spokesperson told the outlet in an email. “The Trump Administration is utilizing all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, just as President Trump promised.”

Jorge Gavilanes, an immigration lawyer and partner at the Kuck and Baxter law firm in Atlanta, represented Veitia in her immigration hearing. Gavilanes stresses that this contradiction is leaving potential immigrants vulnerable.

“The government has given them a permit to work, get a driver’s license, and do whatever they need to do to take care of themselves while their application is pending," Gavilanes said. "But now the same government is telling them, ‘Oh no, you’re not allowed to be here,’ which is contradictory.”