U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of Salin Dahel Ramos Alvarez to The Tennessee Star, describing Ramos Alvarez as a known or suspected member of Tren de Aragua.
A spokesman for ICE told The Star that Ramos Alvarez was arrested last Thursday as part of a “targeted enforcement operation” in Nashville, when the spokesman said Ramoz Alvarez told officers “he was not a Lyft driver but had been paid by an acquaintance to drive them to the airport.”
Describing Ramos Alvarez as “an illegal alien from Venezuela,” the spokesperson told The Star he was initially encountered by Border Patrol during the Biden administration, when he illegally entered the country near El Paso, Texas.
The Biden administration later released him into the country’s interior, according to the ICE spokesperson, who added that a federal immigration judge ordered Ramos Alvarez removed on November 28, 2023.
“The Trump administration has made public safety and immigration enforcement priorities,” said the spokesperson. “ICE officers carry out that mission every day to advance the administration’s homeland security mission and protect the American people.”
Tren de Aragua was notably designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in February 2025, when the agency said it “has conducted kidnappings, extorted businesses, bribed public officials, authorized its members to attack and kill U.S. law enforcement, and assassinated a Venezuelan opposition figure.”
Activists in Nashville initially claimed Ramos Alvarez was a ride-share driver registered with Lyft, and the company reportedly told Telemundo Tennessee it was aware of the incident, was reviewing the situation, and was in contact with the passenger Ramos Alvarez was transporting during the trip. The outlet also reported Lyft said it was attempting to contact Ramos Alvarez.
The Star did not receive a response from Lyft after asking whether Ramos Alvarez was a registered driver, if the October 22 trip that coincided with his arrest was booked through Lyft. The Star also asked, but did not receive a response, whether Ramos Alvarez underwent a background check, or if the company has any policies designed to prevent those accused of affiliations with criminal terrorist organizations from registering to drive through Lyft.
In May 2025, a joint operation between ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol resulted in the detention of 196 illegal aliens in Nashville.
More recently, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told The Star in September that it made more than 100 arrests during an operation at a Memphis nightclub.
A state report released in January recorded more than 11,000 convictions or arrests involving illegal aliens in 2025.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
