Dr. Melina Orozco Aislant, a Venezuelan-born veterinarian who has practiced in Jacksonville since 2023, was arrested by ICE officers on Sept. 23 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport while on vacation. She completed veterinary training in Venezuela before completing additional U.S. schooling, exams and licensing requirements, and built a mobile practice in Jacksonville specializing in acupuncture and traditional Chinese veterinary medicine while also working emergency-room shifts. ICE said she entered the U.S. in February 2015 with authorization to stay until August 2015 but did not depart by that date. She had a first-appearance court proceeding on Oct. 5 and remains in ICE custody, while her attorney said she had applied for benefits through USCIS that had not been timely adjudicated, and colleagues organized a GoFundMe that raised tens of thousands of dollars for her legal fees and potential bail.