A U.S. Coast Guard Veteran, Jose Martinez, was wrongfully detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in the early morning of Monday, January 5th 2026. Martinez was celebrating his 50th birthday with his wife, Tamara Verhas, on a Carnival Cruise when the incident took place.
CBP Agents Storm Passenger Cabin Over a Mistaken Identity
CBP agents boarded the Carnival ship while it was in port in Miami and entered Martinez’s cabin at around 6:45 a.m. The couple woke up to shouting before Martinez was put up against a wall and handcuffed. Verhas recorded the entire incident but a CBP agent took her phone and deleted the video before returning the phone.
Martinez was taken to a holding cell in PortMiami where he waited roughly 90 minutes as CBP agents investigated his identity. Multiple news outlets report CBP agents mistakenly identified Martinez as a man with the same name who had warrants for drug trafficking.
Martinez was finally released after his identity was confirmed. Martinez told local news there was “no apology” by CBP agents and the entire event was “a flurry of just confusion.”
How a U.S. Citizen Was Wrongfully Detained
Cruise lines are legally required to provide crew and passenger manifests to CBP when leaving port to sail to another country. The manifests contain detailed records of all passengers and crew members onboard and include information such as their full name, citizenship, and passport number and expiration date. How CBP agents could mistake Martinez for someone else despite having this information is inexcusable.
Carnival Cruise Line told PEOPLE: “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.”
Not included in Carnival’s statement is that they likely coordinated with CBP agents to share details of Martinez’s location even though they likely had ample evidence that he was a U.S. Citizen.
Martinez could take legal action against the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for false arrest, an action Iraq War veteran George Retes took after being wrongfully detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for three days.
Growing Pattern of Federal Enforcement on Cruise Ships
This is not the first time federal agents have targeted cruise ships for deportations. Over 100 Filipino crew members have been deported by the Trump Administration under the guise they possessed or transported child exploitation materials. The crew members were never provided evidence of their alleged crimes and were denied the right to legal representation before they were deported.
The wrongful detention of Martinez, however, shows a more reckless and emboldened CBP compared to prior incidents on cruises.
When asked about the experience Martinez said “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.”