Dr. Melina Orozco Aislant, a Venezuelan-born veterinarian who has practiced in Jacksonville since 2023, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while on vacation in Arizona. She was arrested by ICE officers on Sept. 23 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, and friends and colleagues back home have been organizing to demand her release ever since.
According to First Coast News, Orozco completed her veterinary training in Venezuela before undertaking additional schooling, examinations and licensing requirements to practice in the United States. In Jacksonville, she built a mobile veterinary practice specializing in acupuncture and traditional Chinese veterinary medicine while also picking up emergency-room shifts, work that colleagues say made her a familiar and trusted presence in the local animal care community.
ICE has said Orozco entered the United States on Feb. 28, 2015, with authorization to remain until Aug. 27, 2015, but did not depart by that date, the station reports. People close to Orozco told the outlet she had a pending asylum application, though First Coast News said it had not independently confirmed that information as of its report.
Attorney Says She Applied for Benefits Through USCIS
Orozco had a first-appearance court proceeding on Oct. 5, according to News4JAX, and she remains in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings. Her attorney told the station, “I am doing everything possible so that all of her rights are protected,” and said Orozco had applied for whatever benefits she was eligible to apply for at the time, adding that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had not adjudicated the request in a timely manner…