A custodian who worked at Trout Creek Elementary School in St. Johns County is now in federal immigration custody after being pulled over on his way to work early Wednesday, August 5. Leonel Armando Bolivar Linares was stopped around 5 a.m., and coworkers later found his car abandoned along the side of the road, according to his mother, who said he texted his father moments before the stop.
The detention was confirmed by the St. Johns Educational Support Professional Association, the union representing school support staff, which said Bolivar Linares was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as he traveled to his job. As first reported by News4JAX, the Department of Homeland Security says Bolivar Linares is an illegal alien of Venezuela who lacks legal authorization to remain in the country, and that he will stay in ICE custody while his immigration proceedings continue. ICE has said the arrest happened during targeted operations in Jacksonville.
Bolivar Linares entered the United States lawfully through Miami International Airport in February 2023, according to facts reported by News4JAX, and his family says he was in the process of seeking asylum with additional immigration paperwork still pending. His family says he is being held at a detention center in Jacksonville, though News4JAX reported it had not independently confirmed exactly where he is being held or the specific immigration charges filed in his case.
Family and Union Push Back on His Detention
Diana Linares, Bolivar Linares' mother, told News4JAX that her son has been struggling while in custody, describing the toll his detention has taken on the family. According to reporting from El Pitazo, Bolivar Linares holds a university degree in journalism from Venezuela, and both of his parents also work for St. Johns County Public Schools after the family immigrated to the United States together in 2023.
Charlena Retkowski, president of the St. Johns Educational Support Professional Association, said Bolivar Linares cleared required FBI background checks and held a valid Florida driver's license before he was detained. The union has also said he had a valid work permit and no criminal record. News4JAX reported it was still working to confirm the current status of his asylum application and work authorization, as well as whether a court hearing date has been set.
Bolivar Linares' family has set up a GoFundMe campaign, organized by Eliana Bolívar Rodríguez, to help cover bond, an immigration attorney and other legal costs. As of August 9, the campaign had raised just over $2,000 toward a $20,000 goal. News4JAX said it had not confirmed whether Bolivar Linares currently has legal representation, and that ICE, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and the St. Johns County School District had not responded to requests for comment.
A Legal Fight Rooted in a Terminated TPS Designation
DHS has pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the termination of Venezuela's 2023 Temporary Protected Status designation as the basis for treating Bolivar Linares as lacking legal status. That decision, issued in May 2025, allowed the department to move forward with ending TPS protections for roughly 350,000 Venezuelan nationals, according to USCIS. Federal guidance from the agency makes clear that a work permit or a pending asylum claim tied to a terminated TPS designation does not grant independent lawful status once that designation ends.
Bolivar Linares' case is not happening in isolation. Just days earlier, ICE detained a Venezuelan-born Chicago Public Schools custodian who also held a pending asylum claim and work permit, taken into custody during a family asylum appointment, as reported by CBS News. Hoodline reported a similar Florida case in July, when federal agents in Miami Beach detained journalist Wilmer Solano, a Venezuelan national with a valid work authorization and pending asylum claim, after DHS determined his TPS status had expired.
St. Johns County's Role in a Statewide Enforcement Push
The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office operates under a formal 287(g) agreement with ICE, a mechanism authorized under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act that lets local agencies carry out specific federal immigration enforcement functions. Florida officials awarded the sheriff's office $1 million in state reimbursement funds in October 2025 to support that work, including funding for 104 designated immigration officers, according to First Coast News.
That local investment fits into a much larger statewide campaign. Between April 2025 and February 2026, Florida's joint state-federal initiative known as Operation Tidal Wave led to the arrest of more than 10,400 foreign nationals across participating 287(g) counties, including 312 Venezuelan citizens, per data reported by The Capitolist. For now, Bolivar Linares remains in ICE custody as his family, his union and immigration attorneys work to sort out what comes next in his case.
