Cleary University student-athlete from Venezuela detained by ICE in Lincoln Park

Karliana Yosdeylin Perdomo-Gotopo, a 20-year-old student at Cleary University and member of the school’s women’s soccer team was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday, according to reporting from Detroit Metro Times. 

Perdomo-Gotopo’s mother told the Metro Times that her daughter entered the U.S. through the border as an unaccompanied minor at age 16 before moving to Michigan as a high school student in 2022. She graduated from Western International High School in Detroit with honors in 2023, before earning her associate’s degree at St. Clair County Community College and transferring to Cleary University in Howell.

Perdomo-Gotopo was detained in Lincoln Park in Wayne County, and is currently detained at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Mich., according to ICE records. 

“She is not a criminal,” Perdomo-Gotopo’s mother told the Metro Times. “She is a young Venezuelan who has fought every day to get ahead.”

When asked for comment by Michigan Advance, Cleary University’s President Alan Drimmer said they were aware of Perdomo-Gotopo’s arrest and were “deeply concerned for her well-being and the well-being of her family during this difficult time. Karliana is a valued member of our campus community and our women’s soccer program.”

Drimmer said the university was gathering additional information regarding the situation and closely monitoring developments. 

“Because this is an active legal and immigration matter, we are limited in what we can publicly comment on regarding specific details,” Drimmer said.

Metro Times also quoted witnesses at the scene who said Perdomo-Gotopo was boxed in by cars before being taken into custody and that it did not appear like a routine traffic stop, instead saying it appeared she was stopped because she is Latina.

ICE did not respond to a request for comment on Perdomo-Gotopo’s detention. 

The North Lake facility in Baldwin has been the subject of criticism by immigrants rights groups for poor conditions for detainees, including a lack of medical care, as well as limited access to legal counsel and visitation rights and to judicial proceedings. 

While ICE has previously denied those allegations, detainees undertook a hunger strike in April over similar concerns about alleged medical neglect, unsafe conditions and prolonged legal delays. And in the wake of the death of Nenko Gantchev, who died at the facility in December, answers about the circumstances surrounding his death have remained unclear despite attempts by U.S. Reps. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) and Hilary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) to get answers.