In November, Mississippi father-of-four Kasper Eriksen couldn’t wait to see Donald Trump return as president. Six months later, he was in chains and being deposited in the nightmarish Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, tossed into a cramped cell with 100 other unfortunate people snatched off the streets by ICE.
On paper, Eriksen is a model conservative. He worked as a welding foreman, lived on a family farm, had no criminal record, and, judging by his social media activity, was shoulder-to-shoulder with all things MAGA. None of that mattered to ICE, as back in 2015 Eriksen failed to complete Form I-751 “Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence”, just one of the countless steps on his legal path to getting full U.S. citizenship.
Kasper arrived from Denmark in the United States back in 2009 and began proudly walking the long road to being an American. He met his wife Savannah, had four children, paid taxes, built a career, and attended every immigration appointment required. Tragically, Savannah suffered a stillbirth in 2015 and, in the wake of that grief, he missed the deadline for submitting this one form.
Nobody ever told him he was missing a crucial piece of documentation and, as 2025 rolled around, he was preparing to fully formalize his naturalization. ICE had other ideas. At what he thought would be his final meeting with immigration officials on Apr. 15, he was clapped in chains. His reaction, understandably, was bewilderment and shock. As he told the Mississippi Free Press:
“The case manager in Memphis and the U.S. Marshal (had) a real sense of remorse because they realized it was an unfortunate circumstance … He said his hands were currently tied. He told us that, had it been a couple of months earlier, during the previous administration, the situation would have probably been different. With the new administration, things have changed a lot, so they had to treat me like they were going to.”
Without even being able to say goodbye to his wife and family, that was Eriksen’s last moment of freedom. As of writing, Eriksen remains imprisoned in Louisiana. His entire life is now a wide cell crammed with other immigrants, with a few hours of yard time now the only way to stay sane.
Welcome to hell
Eriksen seems to be getting some much needed perspective on what supporting Trump as an immigrant actually means, saying: “It’s all different stuff. Some people have an expired visa, for some, it’s a minor or larger crime. I would say that some of these people (are victims) of miscommunication.”
Meanwhile, his family is left facing an uncertain future. His wife Savannah says they don’t even know what to tell the kids:
“In the early days, we kept it vague. We just said, ‘Daddy has to stay for some more paperwork. As it dragged out, we’ve let them in on a little bit more about what’s going on. First, they thought he was in a hotel. Now, (they realize) he’s probably not at a hotel. Or it’s the most horrible hotel they could have ever imagined.”
It’s unknown what Eriksen’s fate will be, but it’s looking increasingly likely he’ll be removed from the country, barred from re-entry, and permanently separated from his wife and kids. Hopefully, justice and common sense will prevail, and he’ll be released from this unjust detention. And if that happens maybe, just maybe he’ll consider whether supporting Republicans is a smart move.
