A man who helped rescue a nine-year-old girl after she was attacked and badly injured by a shark in Florida has been detained by immigration authorities – and he could face deportation.
Luis Alvarez was stopped in the early hours of 14 June after police said he was driving without headlights on, according to an arrest report seen by the Fort Myers News-Press. The paper revealed Alvarez was being held in jail by the US’s immigration and customs enforcement (Ice).
As Donald Trump promised it would during his victorious 2024 presidential election, the White House is conducting a national crackdown on immigration with broad sweeps by Ice that have triggered widespread fears in many communities across the US.
The Trump administration has claimed its immigration crackdown’s priority is to target dangerous criminals. But recent data has shown a surge in people with no criminal history being targeted by the crackdown.
Being in the US without legal status is not a criminal offense – it is a civil infraction.
Alvarez had been involved in the widely reported shark attack on Leah Lendel, 9, when the youngster was bitten on 9 June while she swam in shallow water off the coast of Boca Grande, Florida. Alvarez had been on the beach during the attack and ran into the water to help the injured child, according to witnesses and local media reports.
Lendel’s hand was nearly severed after the attack.
Alvarez was the first person into the water as he sought to scare the shark, fellow rescuer Raynel Lugo said in an interview with local television station Fox4 News.
“He jumped in that area to bring her out when I was assisting Leah,” Lugo told the broadcaster “He went deep underwater, not even caring about the shark. He went really deep. He probably faced the shark.”
Alvarez is now scheduled for a court hearing before a judge on 9 July. Police reportedly described him as being originally from Boaco, Nicaragua.
