A British man residing in the United States has been held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Louisiana for over seven weeks following his arrest at a green card interview in Florida. Connor Read, 29, who has lived in Florida since the age of nine, was taken into custody on June 3 at a facility in Tampa and subsequently transferred across the country. Read is now facing deportation due to a series of minor criminal offences committed in his youth.
Read was born in Chatham, Kent, and brought to the US as a child by his mother and stepfather. He has lived most of his life in the United States, is married to an American citizen, Jaelin Read, 25, and they share three-year-old twin sons. The family was separated abruptly during his interview when ICE agents arrested him and removed him from the building. Jaelin Read described the scene as chaotic, with her sons resisting the separation and other families looking on.
Following his arrest, Read spent eight days in the Pinellas County Jail in Florida under difficult conditions, then was flown to the Central Louisiana Processing Center, a facility housing more than 1,000 detainees, including those convicted of serious offences. He is being held in a large dormitory and is appealing a final removal order, but an official decision on his case could take up to six months. During his detention, Read has experienced illness alongside other detainees and described the facility’s environment as challenging.
Read’s immigration troubles stem from multiple minor offences committed in his late teens and early twenties. He was charged with resisting arrest after an incident at a New Year’s Eve party, possession of alcohol as a minor, and possession of marijuana under 20 grams, which led to his classification as a “criminal illegal alien” by immigration authorities under the Trump administration’s enforcement policies. These charges contributed to the denial of his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal application and initiated removal proceedings.
Despite efforts to regularize his status since meeting his wife in 2020 and spending over $10,000 in legal fees, Read was detained while attempting to lawfully adjust his immigration status. He said he was arrested “trying to do it properly” during his green card interview.
An ICE spokesperson confirmed Read’s arrest and the basis for his deportation order, noting his criminal history and visa violations dating back to his entry in 2007 as a dependent of a student visa holder. The agency emphasized that under current policies it prioritizes the removal of individuals with criminal convictions, stating that nearly 70% of ICE arrests involve individuals charged or convicted of crimes in the US.
Read’s wife, who has never left the United States, is now considering relocating to the United Kingdom if her husband is deported. The family faces an uncertain future as the immigration process unfolds.