Exiled Nicaraguan journalist
Free Luis Galeano Journalism is not a crime
Luis Galeano fled Nicaragua in 2018, persecuted by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, and sought asylum in the United States. Seven years later, his claim is still pending. On September 14, 2026, ICE detained him in Orlando, Florida. He was released on bond on September 26, but still faces immigration proceedings.
Was unjustly detained
Days in detention:
11 daysIn ICE custody from September 14, 2026. Released on bond in the early hours of September 26.
The case
He fled a dictatorship. Now he could be sent back to it.
Luis Galeano, 48, runs Café con Voz, an opinion program he founded in Nicaragua in 2012 and still produces from exile. He left the country in December 2018, on the same day police raided 100% Noticias, the channel that aired his program. A Managua judge ordered his arrest.
In 2023, the Ortega regime stripped him of his citizenship and confiscated his property. In the United States, his asylum claim has been pending since June 17, 2019. Even so, ICE agents detained him while he was working as a rideshare driver.
- Who he is
- Nicaraguan journalist, director of Café con Voz
- In exile
- In the United States since December 21, 2018
- Asylum
- Claim filed on June 17, 2019, still pending
- Citizenship
- Stripped by the Ortega regime in February 2023
- Detention
- September 14, 2026, Orlando, Florida
- Released
- September 26, 2026, on a $10,000 bond
- Next hearing
- October 2, 2026, immigration court
“This detention fits into a troubling pattern in which the Trump administration has wielded immigration enforcement against members of the press. It is critical that journalists who have sought asylum in the United States after fleeing persecution for their journalistic work are protected, not treated as targets for immigration enforcement.”
In the news
See all coverage →-
Univision
El periodista nicaragüense Luis Galeano queda en libertad tras ser detenido por ICE
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Infobae
El periodista nicaragüense Luis Galeano recupera su libertad en Florida tras doce días bajo custodia migratoria
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EL PAÍS English
‘I fear for his safety’: Nicaraguan journalist persecuted by Ortega faces deportation from US
Your voice matters
Share his story, amplify CPJ’s call and urge U.S. authorities not to return Luis Galeano to the regime that persecuted him.
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