A 75-year-old Texas businessman who voted for President Trump has drawn widespread attention — and more than a few raised eyebrows — after publicly criticizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement for detaining his much younger Venezuelan fiancée.
John Gannon, owner of more than 1,000 billboards in the U.S. and several businesses in Mexico, told CBS News that he regrets his vote after Yasmin Suarez Reyes, 45, was taken into custody by ICE at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport last month while the couple prepared to fly to a trade show in Las Vegas.
Gannon described Suarez Reyes as “good as gold” and said ICE is “picking up law-abiding citizens” and “destroying families.” He urged the administration to “go after the criminals” but “leave the mom and pops and the kids alone.”
According to details released in the coverage, Suarez Reyes, a Venezuelan with Spanish citizenship, entered the United States legally in October 2023 on a 90-day visa. She applied for asylum in early 2024 (the case remains pending) and remained in the country after her visa expired — for more than two years.
The Department of Homeland Security responded with characteristic bluntness. “REMINDER: A pending immigration application does NOT confer legal status,” DHS posted. “ICE arrested Yasmin Suarez Reyes, an illegal alien from Venezuela, after she overstayed her lawful admission to the U.S. by OVER 2 YEARS.”
DHS also helpfully promoted its CBP Home program, which offers cash and a free flight home for those who leave voluntarily.
Gannon has hired an immigration attorney, and marriage to the wealthy American citizen has been floated as one possible path for Suarez Reyes to seek permanent residency. Who could have seen that coming?
The internet, never one to miss a May-December romance with immigration complications, had a field day. Someone really ought to sit this good man down and gently explain how these lightning-fast engagements with women thirty years younger — especially ones who just happen to need a path to stay in the country — tend to work out in the real world.
