
Texas businessman and Trump voter John Gannon told CBS News he feels “betrayed” after his Venezuelan fiancée was deported, comparing ICE to the “Gestapo.”
Gannon said he voted for President Donald Trump while knowing that his fiancée, Yasmin Suarez Reyes, was a Venezuelan-born Spanish citizen seeking asylum.
After realizing that Trump’s promise of mass deportations included people like his fiancée, who was following the legal process and attending her court dates, Gannon said he would not vote for Trump again.
CBS News’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez told Gannon that the administration publicly says it is targeting “the worst of the worst, hardened criminals, gang members, rapists, murderers.”
Gannon responded that this was not true, arguing that ICE was also detaining law-abiding people. He claimed that officers were picking up dozens of people at Houston’s airport who were not criminals.
Gannon confirmed that Suarez Reyes had no criminal record. She was arrested by ICE at Houston’s international airport in late July and taken to the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, without a court hearing.
When asked whether he regretted voting for Trump, Gannon said:
“I do now. Yes, sir. I don’t know what’s happened to him. I think he’s hit with a little dementia or something.”
Montoya-Galvez pointed out that Trump had campaigned on mass deportations and a crackdown on illegal immigration, suggesting that some people might view what happened to Suarez Reyes as an example of what mass deportations look like.
Gannon disagreed, arguing that immigration enforcement should focus on criminals rather than law-abiding people.
He said:
“Not law-abiding people, you know, let’s go after the criminals. They’re not. They’re not going after the hard guys. That’s too difficult. It’s easier to pick them up at the airport. You know, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”
Gannon repeatedly said:
“They’re destroying families.”
The article notes that separating families was already a major component of Trump’s immigration policy during his first term.
Gannon said he and Suarez Reyes were traveling from Houston to Las Vegas for a furniture industry convention. According to Gannon, the couple had just left the United Airlines lounge when eight ICE officers approached Suarez Reyes and detained her.
He said the officers did not explain why she was being detained and took her away in a vehicle. Suarez Reyes remained in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings.
When asked what he would say directly to Trump, Gannon responded:
“Go after the criminals. We’re all for that. But leave the mom and pops and the kids alone. Man, he’s destroying families.”
