ICE Detains Venezuelan College Soccer Star in Michigan: Karliana Perdomo Is Part of the Women's Team in Cleary University

Twenty-year-old Venezuelan women soccer star Karliana Perdomo, a business major and athlete student at Cleary University, was detained this week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Michigan.

Perdomo, who entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor in 2022 after fleeing Venezuela, was taken into custody May 26 in Lincoln Park and transferred to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, one of the largest ICE detention facilities in the Midwest.

Her mother, Liliana Gotopo, said Perdomo called from detention the following day asking her to notify professors that she would miss class. "It's amazing, the level of commitment and responsibility my daughter has," Gotopo told the Detroit Free Press. "She's a good person, a hardworking person. She doesn't deserve what's happening to her."

Photos shared on social media showed Perdomo in handcuffs beside multiple vehicles operated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations agents. A witness interviewed by Metro Times said the stop appeared targeted rather than routine. "I definitely think they stopped her because she is Latina," the witness said.

ICE did not publicly explain the detention, while Gotopo said her daughter had a pending asylum application and believed she remained protected under Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Venezuelans. The Trump administration moved to end TPS protections for many Venezuelans, a policy upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, though some documentation remains valid through October.

Perdomo's case comes amid a broader increase in immigration enforcement in Michigan since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. According to a Metro Times review of Deportation Data Project figures, ICE arrested more than 4,200 people in Michigan during Trump's first 14 months back in office, with fewer than a quarter having criminal convictions.

Her detention has also drawn attention because of her ties to higher education and athletics. Perdomo graduated with honors from Western International High School in Detroit, earned an associate degree while playing soccer at St. Clair County Community College, and later transferred to Cleary University.

Cleary President Alan Drimmer said the school was "deeply concerned for her well-being and the well-being of her family."

Teammates described Perdomo as hard-working, humorous and supportive. "Karli is a great teammate, and an even better friend and person," one teammate said in a video shared with the Free Press. "She's always wanting to learn more, asking questions, and never fails to make me smile and laugh."