Days after diving into perilous waters to aid a young child who had been savagely attacked by a shark in Florida, Luis Alvarez is now entangled in the legal system, snared by the possibility of deportation. As reported by NBC Miami, Alvarez, a 31-year-old construction worker originally from Nicaragua, helped save a 9-year-old girl's life after a suspected Bull shark attack. That deed of bravery took place at Boca Grande on June 9.
Following an incident not much later, Alvarez was pulled over in Immokalee for driving without headlights and was unable to produce a driver's license, sharing only an image of his Employment Authorization Card via phone. According to records obtained by The Independent, this led to Alvarez’s arrest on June 14, around 1:30 a.m. Although he has no prior arrests in Collier County, documents reveal that Alvarez has been taken into custody on similar charges in Lee County, where he faced fines and a D6 suspension for nonpayment, which prevented him from applying for a license.
Currently, Alvarez finds himself in the confines of Collier County Jail, awaiting a court appearance scheduled for July 9 as immigration attorneys assess his situation. His predicament has raised questions and concerns about the treatment of individuals who, despite being authorized to work in the United States, find themselves at a crossroads with immigration enforcement. "He is someone with a work permit that is legally authorized to work here in the United States, is told by police for driving without a license. I don't know why this person is being detained by ICE if he had a work permit, unless he has a criminal background," immigration attorney Ricardo Skerrett told NBC Miami.
The rescue that put Alvarez in the public's eye was recorded on police body cameras, showing how he, among others, came rapidly to the young girl's aid, wrapping her injured hand in towels before she was transported for emergency surgery. "And then she flies out and like I look over, I don't know if I heard a yell or what, but she went that and I see her hand hanging, like a piece and there's blood everywhere," the girl's mother, Nadia Lendel, shared her harrowing experience with the authorities in a statement captured by police body cameras and reported by The Independent. The child is now in recovery, needing therapy for her hand to properly function.
In the aftermath, while the community grapples with the stark contrast between heroism and the immigration system's cold embrace, Alvarez's colleague Raynel Lugo, spoke on his behalf. "This guy, I think Luis deserved a second opportunity. I think after what he went through, after what people saw in the news, that he didn't think about it twice to save that little girl," Lugo reported to NBC Miami.
