ICE agent
A federal agent aims at protesters at an ICE facility in Illinois. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska

A right-wing Brazilian influencer who publicly applauded President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has now found himself caught up in it. Júnior Pena, a social media personality with hundreds of thousands of followers, recently praised Trump and falsely claimed federal agents were only targeting “criminal” migrants — just days before he was detained by immigration authorities and sent to a New Jersey detention facility, according to multiple reports. Pena, who has lived in the U.S. since 2009 and is known for attacking Brazil’s left-wing president while boosting far-right figures aligned with Trump, was taken into custody Saturday as deportations of Brazilians surge under the administration. His detention underscores growing fear within immigrant communities, where even vocal supporters of Trump’s policies are learning firsthand that the dragnet does not stop at political loyalty.

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Pro-Trump influencer who praised immigration crackdown detained by federal agents Pro-Trump influencer who praised immigration crackdown detained by federal agents