On February 24, 19-year-old Merwil Gutiérrez was outside his Bronx apartment with two friends when he was detained by ICE agents, even though they reportedly admitted he wasn’t the person they were looking for.
According to Merwil’s father, Wilmer Gutiérrez, officers stopped all three boys at the building entrance. “One officer said, ‘No, he’s not the one,’ but another replied, ‘Take him anyway,’” Wilmer told Documented.
Weeks later, Wilmer managed to speak to his son, who told him he was being held in Pennsylvania and feared being deported to Venezuela.
But instead, he was sent to El Salvador — specifically to CECOT, the high-security prison now being used by the U.S. to hold deported immigrants.
Merwil has no criminal history and no gang ties, according to his family. He came to the U.S. in 2023 with his father, grandfather, and cousin, seeking asylum from Venezuela’s economic and political crisis. His asylum hearing was set for 2027.
“This kid was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said William Parra, an immigration lawyer from Inmigración Al Día. “ICE wasn’t even looking for him. There’s no evidence linking him to any gang.”
Despite that, Merwil was among hundreds of Venezuelans deported under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 — a law last used during wartime.
Former President Donald Trump reactivated the act on March 15, authorizing the removal of Venezuelan nationals age 14 and older who aren’t U.S. citizens or permanent residents and are suspected of being tied to the Tren de Aragua gang.
Although a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued an emergency order to halt deportations, Trump’s Justice Department said it came too late — the planes were already gone.
Wilmer, now desperate for answers, says no one has shared any official documents about his son’s case. “I feel like my son was kidnapped,” he said. “I went from one precinct to another, talked to so many people, and still — nothing.”
He added, “If they had deported him to Venezuela, I might have understood. But why to a country he’s never even set foot in?”
This deportation strategy has faced harsh criticism, especially because individuals were removed without proper legal procedures.
Take the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a Maryland father of three who was wrongly deported to El Salvador because of an administrative error. He has no criminal record in either country.
Even after the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. must assist in bringing him back, the Trump administration claimed it no longer had jurisdiction since he was now in El Salvador’s custody.
During Trump’s meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on April 14, no one in Trump’s team asked about returning Abrego Garcia. When questioned by reporters, Bukele dismissed the idea, saying, “We’re not very fond of releasing terrorists.”
Trump added, “The press would love to have a criminal released into our country. These are sick people.”