Ice deports Venezuelan teen (Merwil Gutierrez) despite reportedly knowing he was not a target [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Ice deports Venezuelan teen despite reportedly knowing he was not a target

Merwil Gutiérrez sent from New York to El Salvador prison although family says he has no criminal history or gang ties

Marina Dunbar
Tue 15 Apr 2025 17.43 BST
Last modified on Tue 15 Apr 2025 18.55 BST

A 19-year-old Venezuelan in New York City reportedly was apprehended by Trump administration immigration authorities and deported to El Salvador despite agents’ realizing he was not whom they meant to arrest in a targeted operation.

Merwil Gutiérrez, whose family opened an asylum case after arriving in the US, was deported from the Bronx to the notorious Cecot prison in El Salvador despite his relatives’ insistence that he has no gang ties or criminal history, according to Documented, a newsroom dedicated to telling the stories of immigrants in New York City. The Gutiérrez family says it has been left without information or answers.

The teen was detained alongside 237 other Venezuelans on 24 February by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). His father, Wilmer Gutiérrez, told Documented: “I feel like my son was kidnapped.

“I’ve spent countless hours searching for him, going from one precinct to another, speaking with numerous people who kept referring me elsewhere. Yet, after all this, no one has given me any information or provided a single document about his case.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/15/merwil-gutierrez-venezuelan-teen-deported-el-salvador

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This is how police states operate.

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