TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Community organizations and activists in Tampa Bay are demanding the release of Eddy Macario, a husband, father, and caregiver detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents following a minor traffic violation in Port Charlotte on May 27, 2025.

Macario, a longtime resident of Manatee County, was transferred to the ICE detention center in Pompano Beach — leaving his seriously ill wife, Benita Cantero, and his two sons, ages 11 and 6, both born in Bradenton, without his primary financial and emotional support.

Benita, diagnosed in 2023 with liver cirrhosis, an autoimmune disease that causes liver failure, had to leave her job as a domestic worker. Due to her immigration status, she is not eligible for a liver transplant, the only curative treatment availa

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