A Nicaraguan Reporter Who Fled Danger Was Detained in Florida
U.S. immigration agents detained Nicaraguan journalist Luis Galeano on the morning of Sept. 14 in Orlando, Florida. He was driving for his second job with Lyft when agents stopped him, according to his wife Daykel Santamaría. As of Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, he was held at the Krome detention center in Miami. His next court date is Oct. 2. The Guardian
The stop ended seven years in the U.S. while his protection claim waited. Havana Times He fled Nicaragua in December 2018, days after police raided 100% Noticias where he worked and ordered his arrest.
He reached Miami soon after and asked for asylum, Santamaría said. Asylum is legal protection for people who fear harm at home. That request had waited about seven years as of September 2026. He has a work permit and a Social Security number.
He is one of at least 94 Nicaraguans stripped of citizenship by the Ortega-Murillo government for opposing it. The order also named novelist Sergio Ramírez and writer Gioconda Belli. After arriving in the U.S. in 2018, he kept reporting on the Sandinista government through Café con voz. He is the director of its interview show, Café con Voz.
Press groups and lawmakers responded within a day. The Committee to Protect Journalists asked ICE to free Galeano on Sept. 15. Committee to Protect Journalists The House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on ‘Confronting the Totalitarian Ortega-Murillo Regime’ on Tuesday, Sept. 15. After the detention, Rep. María Elvira Salazar said, “America must always know the difference between a criminal and a political exile.”
The broader context here is the problem of no citizenship. Nicaragua removed his citizenship, so there is no citizenship to return him to. Think of it like taking a house key and then telling someone to go home. Detention does not fix that. The practical questions are what travel papers apply, what removal can happen, and what protection his 2018 asylum case and work permit give.
Looking at what this means for Washington, timing is key. The detention came one day before a House hearing on the Ortega-Murillo government, and Salazar’s criminal-versus-exile distinction frames the choice. The Oct. 2 date is the next step. Whether Galeano fights his case from inside Krome or outside will shape his reporting and the message to exiled Nicaraguan journalists in Miami who kept covering Managua after losing citizenship at home.
