ICE Deports Venezuelan Teen Despite Knowing He Wasn’t the Target
Nineteen-year-old Merwil Gutiérrez, a Venezuelan asylum seeker in New York City, was mistakenly apprehended and deported to El Salvador’s Cecot prison by ICE agents, despite agents acknowledging their error. His family insists he has no criminal record or gang affiliations, yet he was deported under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a situation mirroring the wrongful deportation of another individual to the same facility. The Gutiérrez family is now without information regarding his status, raising serious concerns about due process and the accuracy of ICE operations. This incident highlights a broader Trump administration push for non-citizen removals, even those without criminal charges.
John Q. Hosedrinker