A 19-year-old was deported to El Salvador after he was detained by New York Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who were reportedly looking for a different person.
Merwil Gutiérrez is now in the notorious maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) after being apprehended on February 24.
His family has insisted he has no criminal history in the U.S. or his native Venezuela, nor any links to criminal gangs—“not even a tattoo,” which ICE uses to target alleged gang members.
Merwil Gutiérrez and his father left Venezuela in 2023 and had a pending U.S. immigration court case
“The officers grabbed him and two other boys right at the entrance to our building. One said, ‘No, he’s not the one,’ like they were looking for someone else. But the other said, ‘Take him anyway.'”
On March 14, Gutiérrez briefly spoke to Merwil on the phone.
It was his understanding that he was being transferred from Pennsylvania to Texas and then to Venezuela.
When a news report listed Merwil with 238 Venezuelans who had been detained under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, he found out his son had been deported to El Salvador.
This is horrific. ANOTHER ONE!
Donald Trump didn’t just deport Albrego Garcia to a foreign torture prison—he deported a Venezuelan teenager who wasn’t even the intended target.
His name is Merwil Gutiérrez. He wasn’t in a gang. He wasn’t a threat. And even Trump’s own… pic.twitter.com/ZbDhSHtozs
The two leaders said there was “no basis” to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, previously told reporters that the ICE arrests included “collaterals.”
“Most of them were criminals, but many were collaterals," Homan said. “How come the collaterals? I’ve said this a thousand times—sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don’t want: more agents in the community and more collateral arrests.”
Homan was unable to provide specific numbers on collateral arrests but said many of those arrested were dangerous criminals.
