Mississippi Father of Four Detained by ICE During Citizenship Appointment Without Warning

 

What was supposed to be a life-changing day turned into a nightmare for Kasper Eriksen, a Mississippi father of four, after he was unexpectedly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a routine immigration meeting in Memphis.

Eriksen, who had been living in the United States for over a decade, believed he was attending the appointment to finalize steps toward becoming a U.S. citizen. Instead, ICE agents were waiting for him and arrested him on the spot without allowing him to say goodbye to his wife or children.

“He thought he was finally going to be recognized as an American,” said family attorney Rachel Linwood. “Instead, he was taken like a criminal, without warning, and sent to a private detention facility hours away.”

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Witnesses say the arrest was swift and cold. Eriksen’s wife, who was waiting outside with their youngest child, was not informed until hours later that her husband had been transferred to a prison facility contracted by ICE in another state.

The incident has drawn sharp criticism from immigrant rights advocates, who argue that ICE’s surprise tactics are cruel and unnecessary, especially when applied to peaceful individuals actively pursuing legal citizenship.

“How do you build trust in the immigration system when it ambushes the very people trying to follow the rules?” said Luis Navarro of the Southern Immigrant Justice Network. “This man was trying to become a citizen, and they treated him like a threat.”

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Eriksen’s family is now rallying for his release, saying his four children all U.S. citizens are suffering from emotional trauma and financial instability in his absence.

A federal motion has been filed demanding ICE justify the arrest, and immigrant rights groups are calling for an immediate review of cases involving good-faith applicants facing detention mid-process.

For now, Kasper Eriksen remains behind bars, a citizen-in-waiting treated like a fugitive, while his family and supporters fight to bring him home.

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