Couple who praised trump’s border policies is now pleading for mercy after their son was detained by ICE agents under the same rules

Just a couple of miles from one of the nation’s largest immigration jails, nestled in South Georgia’s remote countryside, stands El Refugio — a humble hospitality house offering free meals and lodging to families making the long, emotional journey to visit detained loved ones. On a quiet Sunday, the modest facility welcomed Martin Verdi and Debora Rey, an Argentine American couple who had driven nearly nine hours from North Carolina. Their son, Agustin Gentile, is currently being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Stewart Detention Center, a facility known for detaining roughly 1,700 individuals — the second-largest such center in the U.S.

“This is craziness,” Rey said, seated on El Refugio’s back porch while waiting for their visitation slot. Verdi and Rey, both Trump voters in 2024, backed the former president for his promise to tighten immigration at the border and focus on undocumented immigrants. “But he didn’t say he was going to do this, that he was going to go after people who have been here for a long time,” Rey said. “He said he was going to go after all the criminals who came illegally.” Gentile, now 31, came to the United States as a toddler in the mid-1990s. He holds a green card and is the father of two U.S. citizen children, ages 6 and 8. “We feel betrayed, tricked.”

Verdi and Rey have shielded their grandchildren from the painful truth of Gentile’s detention. They’ve told them their father is away on an urgent trip. “They ask, ‘Where is my daddy?’ And we can’t tell them, ‘Daddy is in jail,’” Verdi said. “We had to lie to them because we don’t want to hurt them,” Rey added.

Gentile was detained due to a misdemeanor conviction from a 2020 case in California involving infliction of injury. Initially sentenced to five years of probation, it was later shortened to three. The case was closed in 2023. But after returning from an overseas trip earlier this year, Gentile landed at Los Angeles International Airport, where Homeland Security agents confiscated his green card and Argentine passport on the spot. They ordered him to appear at a Customs and Border Protection office in Raleigh on April 14. When he complied, he was arrested and briefly held in a county jail before being transferred to Stewart Detention Center.

“My son tells me that where he is right now, he is the only person who has papers. Everyone else is undocumented,” Rey said. Gentile’s situation illustrates how even legal immigrants are facing a crackdown. In the first 100 days of Trump’s administration, the dragnet has pulled in foreign nationals with valid legal status. Colleges have been particularly hard-hit, with at least 1,500 student visas recently revoked. Green card holders — permanent residents — are supposed to enjoy stability, with the legal right to live and work in the U.S. and a clear path to citizenship. Yet, those protections can be stripped if they’re convicted of certain crimes, even minor or decades-old offenses. In Gentile’s case, ICE cited his 2020 misdemeanor as evidence of “acts which constitute the essential elements of a crime involving moral turpitude,” per the official court summons.

“Those who violate these laws will be processed, detained, and removed as required,” said Hilton Beckham, Assistant Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection. “Green card holders who have not broken any U.S. laws, committed application fraud, or failed to apply for a reentry permit after a long period of travel have nothing to fear about entering and exiting the country.” But according to Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck, scrutiny is highest at entry points like airports, where border officials have broad powers. Rey and Verdi noted that Gentile had traveled abroad multiple times in recent years without any issues. “Under previous administrations, people may have traveled without a problem. They say, you know, ‘Not worth our time. Minor thing.’ Now there are no minor things,” Kuck said. “There is a zero-tolerance policy under Trump.”

Kuck’s office has been inundated with anxious green card holders. He said it’s the most concerned he’s seen the community since the period following 9/11. “I had a U.S. citizen come in this last week. She was literally in tears. She wanted to go to the wedding of a very dear family member,” Kuck said. “She’s been a citizen for 25 years, never convicted of anything. She was crying in my office.” Rey and Verdi also worry about inaccuracies in Gentile’s court documents, which falsely suggest he served years in jail for his offense. For the 2020 offense in California, “you were sentenced to five (5) years in probation with two (2) served in confinement,” the notice document reads. He spent just two days in jail, according to official records.

The family has filed a habeas corpus petition, but Gentile isn’t expected to have an immigration court hearing before May 12. Until then, he remains in a facility his parents describe as overcrowded and dehumanizing. “He asks me ‘What time is it?’ Sometimes he calls me, and he doesn’t even know what the time is,” Rey said. According to Gentile, lights remain on throughout the night, basic toiletries are hard to access, and meals are nearly inedible. Like many detainees, he relies on instant noodles from the commissary.

CoreCivic, the private company operating Stewart, disputed those claims. “The allegations you were provided are completely false,” spokesman Brian Todd stated. “We take seriously our obligation to adhere to all applicable federal detention standards in our ICE-contracted facilities. In terms of the specific claims you provided, all detainees receive a toiletries kit upon arrival, and everyone is offered a bed.” He added that “three nutritious meals” are provided daily.

For Verdi and Rey, the harshest betrayal is political. “During the campaign he gave the example of many criminals from Venezuela who had come in, because many criminals from Venezuela had even killed people. That has nothing to do with cases like these,” Verdi said. The couple now says they regret their vote. “This was a massive deception what he did. Because the other side had shown us how indulgent they were (with immigration),” Rey said. “But we went from having a completely open door to closing it shut with 10 bolts,” Verdi continued.

They aren’t alone in their frustration. Trump’s approval ratings on immigration have taken a sharp dip, both nationally and in Georgia. According to a mid-April Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll, 52% of Georgia voters now disapprove of his immigration policies.

At El Refugio, Verdi and Rey acknowledge their privilege. As English-speaking citizens with the resources to fight, they’re better equipped than many other detainee families. They met one family — a mother and her five children — visiting a detained loved one. The experience left them shaken. “It broke my heart,” says Verdi. He went to buy toys for the children, but they had already left when he returned.

If the legal fight drags on, Gentile may ultimately choose to leave the country voluntarily. He has no memory of life in Argentina, but it may be the only path forward. “For me, it would be much safer to be in my country,” Rey said. “Freedom above all.”