ICE detained a Venezuelan soccer pro. His case shows the immigration backlog crisis

Immigration Backlog Sweeps Up Professional Athletes: The Case of Homero Calderón

Ecorescuezone.com – The United States immigration system is experiencing unprecedented delays, with millions of applicants waiting years for their cases to be resolved. Among those caught in this growing crisis is Homero Calderón, a Venezuelan professional soccer player whose detention highlights how individuals who follow proper procedures can still find themselves trapped in limbo.

Calderón has spent the past five months confined within an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility located in Folkston, Georgia. The athletic professional built an extensive career spanning multiple continents, representing clubs across Venezuela, Portugal, Cyprus, and most recently Italy.

A Father Separated from His Family

While Calderón remains detained, his wife Daniela Molina cares for their two young children, both U.S. citizens aged one and three years old. The separation has taken a significant emotional toll on the family. Calderón recently missed celebrating his daughter’s first birthday while stuck in detention.

I’ve been 17 years with Homero. I had never heard him cry or ask for help like he has.

Molina shared these words in a video published on social media, describing her husband’s unprecedented distress during his confinement.

The Circumstances of Arrest

Calderón’s detention began in late February when he was pulled over while driving to a car shop in Florida. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office stopped him for speeding and subsequently arrested him for driving without a valid Florida license. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Molina maintained that her husband possessed a valid international driving permit at the time of the traffic stop.

Following the arrest, Calderón was transferred into ICE custody where he has remained ever since. DHS provided clarification regarding his immigration status, stating that Calderón had “permission to stay until September 5, 2025” but that “he overstayed his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.”

Pending Cases Failed to Protect Him

What makes Calderón’s situation particularly troubling is that he was actively engaged in two separate immigration proceedings when authorities detained him. On August 25, 2025, he submitted an application for a tourist visa extension. Simultaneously, he pursued an EB-1A visa classification, which permits individuals demonstrating extraordinary ability or achievement in fields including athletics, science, arts, education, and business to remain in the United States with permanent residency.

Despite having these applications pending, Calderón was swept up in President Trump’s broader immigration enforcement initiatives. Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, noted that Calderón’s experience reflects a widespread phenomenon affecting countless applicants.

His case is symbolic of so many other individuals who are stuck in processing backlogs at USCIS — individuals doing the right thing by filing their applications timely. But it’s taking many, many, many months, if not in certain instances years, to have a case processed.

Dalal-Dheini further explained that the current system creates opportunities for enforcement actions against individuals who have demonstrated compliance with immigration regulations.

It’s an easy way for the government to meet their quota to detain and deport individuals when they know who individuals are because they’ve done the right thing and applied for something.

Record-Breaking Backlog Numbers

The scale of the problem is substantial. USCIS currently faces a backlog of 11.3 million pending cases. While this figure was already elevated before President Trump assumed office, the American Immigration Council’s analysis reveals that the backlog has expanded by more than 1.6 million cases since 2025.

Compounding the issue, USCIS has processed approximately 41% fewer cases at the beginning of the 2025 fiscal year despite receiving fewer immigration petitions overall. This reduction in processing capacity has created a vulnerable population of immigrants whose legal status remains uncertain.

As the government takes longer to process applications, that means people are vulnerable to being arrested by ICE because they don’t have a set status approved by the federal government.

Adriel Orozco, senior policy counsel with the American Immigration Council, emphasized this connection between delayed processing and increased detention risk.

Changing Enforcement Priorities

Historically, individuals like Calderón with pending USCIS applications or immigration court proceedings were not considered enforcement priorities. The government typically allowed these applicants to continue through their cases without interruption.

The government would allow those individuals to continue to follow that process, Orozco said, adding that going after them is a waste of resources because at the end of the day, those individuals could be potentially approved for those statuses.

Under the Trump administration, however, this approach has fundamentally shifted. Every immigrant now faces potential detention regardless of their case status or progress through the system.

A Life Built on Discipline and Rules

According to his brother Ramón Calderón, Homero has always been a disciplined individual, a quality developed through years of professional soccer. Ramón recalled that Homero was already running around soccer fields when he was just two years old.

At sixteen, Homero signed his first professional contract with Sport Club Guaraní in Venezuela. Throughout his career, he primarily played as a midfielder. His most recent professional engagement was with the Italian team A.S.D. Arboris Belli 1979 last year.

Throughout his life, Ramón noted, Homero Calderón has consistently followed the rules and laws in every country where he has lived and played. NPR found no evidence of any past or pending criminal cases involving Calderón, reinforcing the family’s position that his detention stems from administrative delays rather than any wrongdoing.

As the immigration backlog continues to grow, Calderón’s case serves as a powerful example of how systemic delays can upend the lives of individuals who have done everything correctly—applied on time, followed regulations, and maintained clean records—yet remain trapped in uncertainty while waiting for their cases to finally be resolved.