He lived in the US for 30 years & was seeking citizenship — then ICE detained the 76-year-old at his interview as his cancer treatment hung in the balance

For Loreto Javar, a citizenship interview was supposed to mark the final stage of a journey that had begun more than three decades earlier.

Instead, the appointment ended with the 76-year-old being taken into US immigration custody.

Javar, a Filipino national and longtime US permanent resident, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during his citizenship interview in Tukwila, Washington, in June, according to The Guardian. He is now being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma while his immigration case continues.


What has made the case particularly concerning for his family and advocates is Javar's age and medical condition. He was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer earlier this year and requires ongoing treatment and medication.

A three-decade life in America interrupted

Javar moved to the United States in 1995 and has spent most of his adult life there. He worked in the hotel industry before retiring and built a family life in Washington with his wife and daughter.

His daughter, Daisy Javar, told the Seattle Times, as reported by The Guardian, that her father had repeatedly renewed his green card without encountering problems. His most recent renewal reportedly took place in December.

He applied for US citizenship in November 2025.

For his family, the application represented an attempt to formalize a life he had already spent decades building in the country.

But federal immigration authorities raised an issue dating back to before his arrival in the United States.

ICE points to a decades-old conviction

According to court documents reviewed by the Seattle Times, Javar was involved in an altercation in the Philippines during the 1970s that resulted in one person's death.

The documents say Javar told authorities when he was detained that he had spent roughly three years in prison in the Philippines before being released on parole.

ICE says the problem is not simply the existence of the old conviction but that Javar allegedly failed to disclose it when applying for his US visa in 1995.

An ICE spokesperson told the Seattle Times that disclosure of the conviction would have made Javar ineligible to enter the United States at that time. The agency therefore argues that he is now ineligible to remain in the country, The Guardian reported.

Javar's daughter said her father had obtained police clearance from the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation during the visa process.

The competing accounts have left the family facing an immigration case over events that occurred decades before Javar's detention.

His cancer treatment has become a major concern

The immigration dispute is unfolding alongside a serious medical crisis.

Javar was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in January. He takes two oral medications for the disease and additional medication for other health problems, according to information cited by The Guardian from the Seattle Times.

His family and supporters say detention has disrupted his medical care.

An online petition organized by the Filipino migrant advocacy group Tanggol Migrante Movement alleges that Javar has missed oncology appointments since being detained. The group says those appointments are important for blood tests and medication adjustments.

The petition also claims he recently developed a blood clot in his stomach.

These medical claims come from the advocacy group and family and have not been independently verified by The Guardian. The Guardian reported that it contacted ICE for comment.

Family raises concerns over conditions in detention

Daisy Javar has also described difficulties surrounding her father's daily routine at the Tacoma facility.

According to her account, meals have sometimes arrived much later than expected. She told the Seattle Times that lunch could be delivered as late as 6pm and dinner around midnight.

For someone taking medication that needs to be coordinated with food, the timing has become another source of concern, The Guardian reported.

The family is now pushing for his release while his immigration case proceeds.

Advocacy group calls for Philippine government intervention

The case has also prompted calls for assistance from Philippine diplomatic officials.

Tanggol Migrante Movement's petition urges the Philippine government and the Philippine Consulate in Seattle to intervene on Javar's behalf.

The group says consular representatives visited Javar and promised assistance, including money for his commissary account, but alleges that the promised support had not been delivered at the time of the petition.

The Guardian reported that it contacted both the Philippine embassy and the Seattle consulate for comment.

The controversy therefore extends beyond Javar's immigration case, with his supporters questioning whether an elderly Filipino national facing serious illness is receiving sufficient assistance while in US custody.

A citizenship application that ended very differently

Javar's case is striking because of the circumstances surrounding his detention.

He was not stopped at the US border or arrested after entering the country. According to The Guardian, ICE detained him while he was attending an interview connected to his application for US citizenship.

That application came after roughly 30 years as a US permanent resident.

His family says he had worked, paid taxes and maintained his life in the United States. ICE, meanwhile, maintains that the alleged failure to disclose his Philippine conviction affected his eligibility to enter and remain in the country in the first place.

The disagreement illustrates the complicated immigration questions that can emerge when decades-old criminal records intersect with long-standing permanent residency.

The case comes amid a wider immigration crackdown

Javar's detention is also unfolding during President Donald Trump's second administration, which has made expanded immigration enforcement a central policy priority.

The Guardian has reported that the administration initially emphasized targeting people it described as violent criminals and the "worst of the worst." However, the newspaper's analysis of government records found that many people entering deportation proceedings for the first time during the administration's first year had no criminal conviction.

Javar's case adds another dimension to the debate, involving a longtime green-card holder, an alleged foreign conviction dating back decades and a serious medical condition.

For his family, however, the issue is more immediate than the wider immigration debate.

Their focus is on a 76-year-old father who went to a citizenship interview expecting to take another step toward becoming an American citizen and instead found himself in an ICE detention facility while undergoing treatment for advanced cancer.

As his immigration proceedings continue, his family and advocates are calling for his release and for uninterrupted access to the medical care they say he needs.