ICE arrested Lorenzo Thompson, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant and Jamaican national, at Nashville International Airport on July 14, 2025, after he allegedly overstayed a six-month visa granted under Biden in 2021.
The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Thompson entered the United States lawfully in April 2021 on a six-month visa but refused to leave when it expired. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers took him into custody at the airport, and the agency said he was cooperative and remains detained pending immigration proceedings.
Against our nation's laws, [Lorenzo Thompson] overstayed his visa and failed to depart. He will remain in ICE custody pending his immigration proceedings.
An ICE representative told Fox News that Thompson continued working as a commercial flight attendant while in the country illegally. The agency also said illegal immigrants who choose to self-deport are offered a $2,600 cash stipend, a free flight home, and the opportunity to return to the United States legally. "If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return," the agency said.
Thompson's case has drawn pushback from his union and supporters. TWU Local 556, the chapter representing Southwest flight attendants, said it is in communication with Thompson's family and working with its legal counsel on the situation. "Every Member deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and we are committed to ensuring this Member and their family know they are not alone during this difficult time," the union said in a statement.
The Association of Flight Attendants and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement both issued statements of solidarity. "Today, we stand with our brother Enzo and his union family," the AFA said.
A GoFundMe organized by Thompson's friend Kristin Foster had raised $43,018 of a $45,000 target as of Thursday. Foster's account complicates ICE's framing: she wrote that Thompson came to the United States legally from Jamaica in 2021, seeking safety from life-threatening abuse, and that he holds a valid work permit with a pending case before U.S. immigration. "He has no criminal record. No parking tickets," Foster stated.
The gap between ICE's account and Thompson's supporters — one says he overstayed and worked illegally, the other says he followed every legal step — is the open question now sitting in immigration court.