“I would never have thought the United States would act this way,” John Gannon said
Credit: KHOU 11
NEED TO KNOW
- John Gannon, a Texas Republican and Trump supporter, says ICE detained his fiancée Yasmin Suarez Reyes at a Houston airport without explanation
- Suarez Reyes, a Venezuelan-born Spanish citizen, allegedly overstayed her U.S. visa and is now in ICE custody
- Gannon, a businessman, says the incident has changed his political stance
A supporter of President Donald Trump said he is disappointed in the current administration after claiming his fiancée was taken by a group of ICE agents without explanation.
John Gannon, a Republican and Texas businessman, told CBS News that his fiancée, Yasmin Suarez Reyes, 45, was arrested by eight U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at the international airport in Houston last month. The ICE agents allegedly “swarmed” her and “rustled her off into a car” with “no explanation,” Gannon, 75, said.
“You never think, or I never thought a guy like me would ever be involved in something like this,” Gannon said in an interview with the outlet published on Thursday, Aug. 6.
The couple was planning to board a flight to Las Vegas at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport when plainclothes officers took Suarez Reyes, who was born in Venezuela and holds citizenship in Spain, Gannon said.
“I was just in total disbelief,” he told CBS News.
Gannon, who owns more than 1,000 billboards in the U.S. and multiple establishments in Mexico, including a hotel and a restaurant, said he and his fiancée were on their way to a furniture convention when she was detained.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to me,” he continued. “I have several businesses. I’m a law-abiding citizen, and I pay a lot of tax.”
Gannon made it clear that he wasn’t criticizing the Trump administration based on his own political affiliations, as he voted for him in the most recent election.
“I voted for Trump,” he said, adding, “They are picking up law-abiding citizens. They’re destroying families, jobs.”
He added that he would not vote for Trump again, “not after this fiasco,” adding, “This is like the Gestapo.”
In a statement to PEOPLE, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed Suarez Reyes was arrested on July 24.
“On October 24, 2023, she lawfully entered the U.S. and illegally overstayed her lawful admission, which expired on January 19, 2024,” the statement read. “Pending applications do NOT confer legal status. All of her claims will be heard by a Justice Department immigration judge, and she will receive full due process. This Administration is not going to ignore the rule of law.”
PEOPLE reached out to Suarez Reyes’ immigration attorney for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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“For almost two weeks now, she has been in a physical jail cell, when she has done nothing more than follow the laws of the United States and do what our immigration laws allow her to do,” her attorney told CBS News.
“Seriously, it reminds me of a Gestapo system,” Gannon told CBS News. “I would never have thought the United States would act this way.”
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