A U.S. veteran and
his wife say federal agents wrongly detained him aboard a cruise ship in what
authorities later acknowledged was a case of mistaken identity.
Jose “Joey”
Martinez, a Phoenix resident and U.S. citizen, was taken into custody in the
early hours of January 5, 2026, while his Caribbean
cruise was docked in Miami,
just hours before passengers were scheduled to disembark. According to Cruise
Hive, agents with U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) entered Martinez’ cabin around
6:45 a.m., while the couple was still asleep. He was handcuffed and swiftly removed
from the ship for questioning.
“[The door] burst
open. Three men came in with flashlights, shining them in our faces and giving
us commands. They ordered me out of bed and put me against the wall and
handcuffed me. I had no idea what was going on. I was asking what this was
about; it was a flurry of just confusion,” Martinez told Phoenix’ 12News.
“We were both half-dressed.
I started filming, and that's when they called a female agent in because they
realized I wasn't dressed,” his wife, Tamara Verhas, told journalists. “She saw
me filming and jumped on top of me to get my phone. I pushed her away, and she
jumped on me again and snatched it from my hand.”
Martinez, who
served seven years in the U.S. Coast Guard, was taken to a holding cell at the
port for roughly 90 minutes while agents worked to verify his identity, Arizona’s
ABC15
reported. Martinez explained to reporters that he repeatedly offered to provide
proof of his citizenship and military service.
“From what I
understand, all of this was based off my first and last name, a very common
Hispanic name. They thought I was someone who had warrants for drug trafficking
or some sort of offender,” Martinez said.
After
fingerprinting and further questioning, authorities determined he was not the
person they were seeking and released him.
"He has TSA
Pre-Check, he has had [an] FBI background check because he has his Concealed
Carry," Verhas said. "He's a military veteran, they had his passport,
they could've figured all this out without ever having had to speak to
us."
Martinez said
agents did not apologize for the mistake.
“No apology, so
sorry for the mistaken identity. I remember hearing the agents saying they
didn't feel good about how it all went and that they knew beforehand it would
be a mismatched, mistaken identity, and yet they still went through with it and
traumatized us,” he said.
Martinez said the
experience highlights broader concerns about how identity checks are handled.
"I come from
a family of veterans," he said. "My father is Air Force, retired Air
Force. I'm a veteran of the Coast Guard; my brothers were in the Army and the
Navy. My niece, she just joined the Navy. This is happening to people every day, and
it's unfair it's happening in this country. It's a different country, it's not
the country I served for," he told reporters.
“The fact that
what happened to me shows this could happen to anybody… "There is [sic] so
many other people out there that this is happening to, maybe not on a cruise
ship, but maybe on the streets or in their homes. And it's just not right.
There's no humanity in it. It's unnecessary. It's dehumanizing." Martinez said.
Carnival
Cruise Line issued a statement in response to requests for comment, which merely
served to confirm that Martinez was taken into custody by federal agents. “We
are aware that U.S. Customs and Border Protection took a guest into custody as
a person of interest. As this is a law enforcement matter, we defer all further
questions to the appropriate authorities,” it said.
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