A Draper man says his parents and sister were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a Phoenix airport last month, even as the family worked through the legal process to fix their immigration status. Julian Rincon, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Colombia, says his mother, father and sister had work permits and were actively trying to normalize their migratory status when they were stopped while returning from what he described as a short family getaway.
Rincon's mother, Clara Avellaneda, his father, Henry Rincon, and his sister, Daniela Rincon, were detained at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after arriving on a flight from Salt Lake City, according to KSL News. The three are being held at the Eloy Detention Center in Eloy, Arizona, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has labeled them “illegal aliens from Colombia,” saying ICE officials arrested them on Aug. 26. DHS says each of them failed to depart when their permission to be in the United States ended, accusing Henry Rincon and Clara Avellaneda of overstaying their visas.
According to KSL's reporting, Daniela Rincon entered the country on May 2, 2017, and was permitted to remain until Dec. 30, 2020, while her parents entered on Aug. 25, 2019, with permission to stay through Jan. 29, 2023. Julian Rincon and his sister had both entered the U.S. on student visas in 2017, and his parents later followed on student visas as well. Julian Rincon works as a ramp agent at Salt Lake City International Airport and has hired a lawyer to help his family.
Bond Granted for Mother, Denied for Father and Sister
An immigration judge denied bond for Daniela Rincon and Henry Rincon but allowed Clara Avellaneda to be released, provided the family can pay a $12,500 bond. Julian Rincon said he is now trying to raise that amount to get his mother out of detention while his father and sister remain in custody as their cases move through immigration court.
DHS said a pending immigration claim does not confer legal status in the United States and that all three will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. Julian Rincon disputes the government's framing, saying his family was following the legal path to try to fix their status rather than avoiding it. He said he is petitioning on behalf of his parents in their effort to secure U.S. residency, is pursuing his own citizenship through his American wife, and that his sister was pursuing an asylum request tied to conditions in Colombia.
No Criminal Charges Found, Family Says They're Not Criminals
Rincon says his father and mother run construction and cleaning companies, and he described his parents and sister as hardworking people who are not criminals. A review of online Utah court records, per KSL, found that none of the three had faced criminal charges. That detail sits uneasily against the Trump administration's earlier stated focus, which officials said would target immigrants who had committed the most serious crimes.
The Rincon family's case lands amid a sharp rise in immigration enforcement across Utah. At least 3,040 immigration arrests occurred in the state in 2025, more than double the number recorded under President Joe Biden's administration in 2024, according to News From The States. That outlet reports that 55% of last year's Utah arrests involved people with criminal convictions, while 17% were detained solely for alleged immigration violations, with the uptick beginning in January 2025 and continuing through the year.
Airport Detentions Part of a Broader Federal Push
Statewide, ICE arrested at least 613 people in Utah in June before the number dipped slightly to 548 in July, according to Utah News Dispatch. Nationally, DHS reported arresting roughly 51,000 immigrants in July, its highest monthly total to date, as the administration pushes toward a stated goal of about 2,000 arrests per day using tactics that include detaining more people at airports. One Utah immigration attorney told the outlet that calls to his firm from people affected by arrests and detentions have tripled, from about five in a busy week last year to about 15 now.
The pattern of airport detentions has touched other Utah families as well. Utah News Dispatch also reported on a separate case in which a traveler returning from a business trip, who had a pending application for legal status, was detained before an immigration judge granted his request for bond and he was released. For the Rincon family, the outcome for Julian Rincon's father and sister remains unresolved as they continue to navigate immigration court proceedings from detention in Arizona.
