By Max Marin, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jose Francisco Velasquez Manaure views himself as a rule follower.

He was a police officer in his native Venezuela, where he joined an opposition political party to demand reforms in his country. When government-aligned paramilitary groups kidnapped others in his circle, he feared for his life. He fled his home and traveled thousands of miles through treacherous terrain to reach the Texas-Mexico border in July 2022.

Upon arrival, he requested asylum, trusting in a legal process that allows people like him, with a credible threat of political persecution, to live in the United States.

But that process has been upended this year amid President Donald Trump’s push to deport a record number of people. So when Velasquez was scheduled for a routine che

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