Delaware Gov. fighting to free resident living with disabilities arrested by ICE

Delaware’s governor is calling for the immediate release of a state resident who was detained by ICE in September.

Victor Acurio Suarez, 52, has developmental disabilities and no criminal record.

His lawyers say he has had his asylum procedures in the works for three years but in September he was detained by ICE agents and has been in their custody ever since.

Gov. Matt Meyer has put Victor’s story all over social media and he has reached out to the judge in the case asking that he be allowed to go home.

Victor fled violence in Ecuador and lives with his brother in southern Delaware.

Officials say that Victor does not know why he is being held in custody.

Due to his disabilities, Victor’s lawyer, Kaley Miller, says he can’t get a regular job but he did look for odd jobs.

Miller says Victor was detained when he was at the Lowe’s store in Seaford, Delaware.

Victor had walked right up to ICE agents at the store and asked if they had any work he could do which is when they arrested him.

“At this point our request is for ICE to grant him humanitarian parole which would release him from their custody and would allow him to proceed on the resolution of his immigration proceeding,” Miller explained.

Gov. Meyer told NBC10 that he supports border controls and immigration policies, but he believes Victor is just being used to fill some sort of ICE arrest quota.

“It comes from the top. I don’t necessarily blame the ICE agents themselves. They’re being told, I think, that if someone speaks in an accent that’s not an American accent, if they display traits that are culturally different than sort of white American traits, then they’re suspicious. That’s not America, that’s not who we are,” Meyer said.

Victor has an asylum hearing scheduled in January, 2026.

NBC10 reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to ask about this case, but we are waiting to hear back.

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