Brint Jindra was a true MAGA patriot. He voted for Trump three times and was especially appreciative of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The New York Times recently told the story of how Jindra was disillusioned by a close encounter with reality.

In July, Brint Jindra had an experience that upended his political views. He took his wife to wine country in California to celebrate her 40th birthday.

His wife was a Russian immigrant. They married in March 2025. They applied for a marriage-based green card. Their application was accepted, and they were waiting for the green card to arrive.

When the couple deplaned in Burbank, the wife was pulled aside by an ICE officer and arrested.

She spent 16 days in a detention center. While they are awaiting trial, they can’t go home to Ohio. Brint’s wife Galina Bobteneva must wear an electronic ankle monitor and can’t go more than 75 miles from their location in California.

Their lawyer, Patrick Valdez, requested a bond hearing, scheduled for July 28. Ms. Bobreneva was released July 29 on a $35,000 bond with an ankle monitor and an order to report to ICE in San Francisco Aug. 5.

Over dinner at a seafood restaurant in Redwood City the night before her appointment, Ms. Bobreneva barely touched her crab cakes. She had been struggling to sleep and was terrified of being detained again.

“I never thought that it was so easy to take freedom from anyone,” she said.

Mr. Jindra, too, was nervous.

“We are living in fear in my own country,” he said.

Early the next morning, they joined a line outside the immigration building that wrapped around the block. Ms. Bobreneva entered with her lawyer more than two hours later.

They emerged with instructions from ICE to report back on Sept. 7.

The couple returned to Redwood City, where unopened birthday gifts and deflating balloons sat on their dining room table, alongside a vase of two dozen wilted roses.

“I cannot celebrate anything,” Ms. Bobreneva said.

Her first court appearance is Oct. 22, but her case will take months to be resolved.

The Trump administration is trying to fill a quota of apprehending 2,000 immigrants every day. This means that more people who are not illegal are ensnared, even including some American citizens.

This is Trump’s America. No longer the home of the free.