Latif and Sandra Hafraoui used to watch a lot of Newsmax — and only Newsmax.
They believed Donald Trump’s claims that everything outside the mainstream media was “fake news.”
So they believed Newsmax’s claims that Trump’s deportation agenda was limited: he intended to go after “terrorists,” “drug dealers,” “murderers,” above all, “criminals.”
Latif is an immigrant himself. He was born in Morocco and arrived in the States in 1987. For years, he’d voted Democratic.
Sandra was raised Republican. She hadn’t agreed with her parents’ racist politics. But when Obama was elected, she began to go down a rabbit hole, finding herself taken in by the conspiracies around his birth.
Both Latif and Sandra were drawn to Trump’s “outsider” status and his promises that he would shake things up.
In 2020, they believed Trump’s claims that the election had been stolen.
However, their first doubts began to creep in.
“It was around that time I started to question how truthful Trump was,” reflects Sandra. “He had not really kept his promises, and we did not see that much of an improvement in the country.”
They still voted for Trump in 2024, but with less enthusiasm. Things were about to go completely off the rails for the couple.
On August 11, 2025, the two set out for a vacation in Florida. At Newark Airport, they were approached by ICE agents.
Without telling Sandra where they were going, the agents took Latif away in an unmarked van. He was sent to Delaney Hall Detention Facility.
This began Latif’s ICE detention nightmare.
He was shuttled back and forth between Delaney Hall and facilities in Louisiana and Arizona.
He was given inedible food in tiny portions. He was denied soap and shampoo and threatened with deportation to Morocco and, inexplicably, Qatar.
Through it all, Sandra fought to keep tabs on her husband. The couple learned that they’d been lied to about ICE and deportations under Trump. They learned that ICE has high quotas to meet, and that its agents are racially profiling people in order to meet them.
This new tactic of abducting people from airports is beginning to spread.
Just this week, the New York Times reported on another couple who formerly supported Trump and were targeted by ICE at the airport.
Their story sounds similar to Latif’s; in this case, the wife, Galina Bobreneva, a Russian immigrant, was pulled aside by ICE. She overstayed a visa but has a pending green card application. Her lawyer says she was never out of lawful status.
Latif himself was finally released after 108 days in custody, and his wife reports that he shows signs of PTSD. Neither of them could dream of supporting Trump again. They’ve also turned off Newsmax — forever.
Both of them have stressed the importance of the Leaving MAGA community, which they are proud to be a part of.
At a time when both the left and the right were judgmental toward the Hafraouis, Leaving MAGA was there to embrace them and let them know we are here to help.
Thanks for being with us on this odyssey,
Rich
Founder, Leaving MAGA
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.