Two circus performers with pending asylum cases were swept up by ICE at Sky Harbor

Agustin Baccega and Gustavo Romanello had just gotten off their plane at Terminal 3 of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport when two men in plainclothes, one wearing a baseball cap, approached them. 

One of the men said Baccega’s full name, asking if he was that person to which he replied “yes.” Moments later, he was being put in handcuffs. 

The two men were plainclothes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Once Romanello began asking them questions about where they were taking Baccega, they quickly turned on him, asking his name. 

“Oh, do you have another pair of cuffs? This is another one,” Jonathan Batchelor, a friend of the two, recalled hearing the agent say to his partner. Batchelor, who was helping the two get a ride from the airport was on the phone with Baccega as the ICE agents arrested him. The three men were preparing for a somber weekend as a long-time friend of theirs had recently passed away. 

Now, instead of grieving their friend, Baccega and Romanello are in ICE detention, trying to get an explanation for why two men with pending asylum cases, work permits and no criminal record have been swept up by ICE as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort. 

Their arrests appear to be part of a growing local and national trend. 

Individuals with no criminal history freely traveling inside the country only to be met by ICE agents when they land. Earlier this year, Yagiz Doruk Hallac, who was granted special protections by an immigration judge in New York in 2023, was picked up at Sky Harbor and quickly deported to the Central African Republic, where he had no ties. 

“DHS reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country. Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this,” an unnamed Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Mirror. “This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”

The Arizona Mirror analyzed data from the Deportation Data Project, which collects ICE data on arrests and deportations. Prior to 2025, ICE had not made arrests at the airport; in 2026, such arrests are surging.

Friends of the duo are advocating for their release and trying to share their story as they sit in detention facilities in Florence and Eloy. Baccega, who is in Eloy, is said to have not been getting daily medications he was detained with, according to Batchelor. 

“They were happy to go to court dates, they were happy to keep the government posted about anything they were doing and they were not in any way trying to skirt the system,” Batchelor told the Mirror. “It is just nonsense.” 

At least one member of Arizona’s congressional delegation has taken note of the rise in airport arrests by ICE. U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari has put forward legislation to restrict data sharing on passengers between the Transportation Security Administration and ICE. 

“Once again, ICE is severely abusing sensitive personal data and utterly betraying the public trust. Travelers should not have their private information shared or exploited by the Trump Administration for immigration enforcement without appropriate legal safeguards, judicial warrants, or any due process,” the Phoenix Democrat said. “TSA and ICE must reverse course immediately and provide transparency about the consequences of this horrific policy.”

Aerial acrobatics 

Baccega and Romanello, who are gay, legally came to the U.S. from Argentina in 2020. Although Argentina had been seen as a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people, that has changed since far-right President Javier Milei rose to power, and violence against LGBTQ+ people has risen. 

The two men are part of a close knit community of circus performers in Arizona and around the country and are known for their aerial acrobatic skills. Both have been instructors at the Arizona Circus Center. 

They were coming to Phoenix on Nov. 7 to pay their respects to a friend and fellow circus performer who had died the day prior, traveling from Orlando, where Romanello worked full-time at Universal Studios.

The tight-knit local community of performers, who were already mourning the loss of one of their own, suddenly became aware of what had happened to the duo and jumped to action. A GoFundMe to help with legal fees has already raised more than $42,000. 

“Everybody who interacts with them falls in love with them very quickly because they are just fantastic people,” Batchelor said. He met the two in 2021 when they taught him acrobatics at the Arizona Circus Center, eventually becoming his coaches. “They are absolutely delightful people.” 

That sentiment was echoed by another person the two taught. 

“They both taught there and truly brought the place to life,” Paige Lokkesmoe said. “They were beloved teachers by adult and child students alike during their time teaching there before following their dreams and moving to Orlando to pursue performing opportunities, new jobs and further their education.” 

Lokkesmoe said she quickly became friends with the men, as did many others, who would often travel to Orlando, Las Vegas and other places to see them perform or to hang out. 

Batchelor said that Baccega and Romanello pose no threat to the community, have no ties to anyone “shady” and have been paying taxes while they’ve been in the country. He finds their detention to be the opposite of Trump’s campaign pledge to deport the “worst of the worst.” 

“It just makes no sense at all. It’s absolute lunacy,” Batchelor said. 

DHS contends that the two “illegally overstayed” and refused an order to depart in 2021.

“They will receive due process and remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings,” the unnamed spokesperson said. “To be clear, a work authorization or a pending application do not confer legal status in the United States.” 

Batchelor said he saw photos of the violence the men had fled from. 

“I’ve seen photographs of some of the injuries they sustained,” Batchelor said. “It is not like something that they just would’ve been claiming in the abstract.”

‘America’s Friendliest Airport’ 

Phoenix Sky Harbor has bestowed upon itself the title of “America’s Friendliest Airport.” It is owned and operated by the City of Phoenix, and is the nation’s eleventh busiest airport. 

Despite the inviting nickname, data analyzed by the Mirror shows that arrests by ICE at the airport appear to be surging. 

There were only five arrests recorded at the airport in 2025, and none in the two years prior, according to the data. Through July, when the most recent data ends, ICE has arrested 21 people at Sky Harbor in 2026. 

In a press release issued by the law firm that is now representing them, Baccega and Romanello’s attorneys say they want answers from the airport and city leadership to disclose their role in ICE’s operations and want to see security footage from the arrest. 

“An airport should be a place where people reunite with loved ones, travel for work, and come together in moments of grief,” attorney Ray Ybarra Maldonado said in a statement. “Turning those moments into opportunities for detention spreads fear far beyond the people arrested. It tells immigrant families that even an ordinary trip can end with their lives being torn apart.”

Phoenix City Council and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego did not respond to requests for comment on the relationship between the airport and ICE, what policies they may have on plainclothes officers at the airport or if they were aware of ICE’s continued operations there. 

A spokesperson for the airport directed the Mirror to their FAQ page and said the airport is not notified of ICE operations.  

As for the two men’s friends, they said they believe ICE should be out of the airport and that Phoenix and Maricopa County have more than enough resources to keep travellers safe. 

“Having ICE agents come in and round people up is absolutely contrary to maintaining law and order,” Batchelor said, noting that Gov. Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes and Gallego have all voiced their displeasure with the agency. “It is one of the most insane intrusions on law abiding citizens and law abiding lives. There is no angle at which this makes any sense whatsoever.”