US immigration authorities reportedly deported 19-year-old Merwil Gutiérrez, a Venezuelan asylum seeker in New York, to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, despite knowing he was not the intended target of a February operation.
Merwil Gutiérrez was one of 237 Venezuelans detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on 24 February in the Bronx, according to Documented, a newsroom covering immigrant communities in New York.
Despite family claims that Gutiérrez had no criminal history or gang affiliations, he was transferred to El Salvador’s Cecot prison — a facility notorious for its severe conditions — rather than returned to Venezuela.
His father, Wilmer Gutiérrez, said he heard ICE agents acknowledging that Merwil was not the person they were seeking.
“One said: ‘No, he’s not the one,’ but another responded: ‘Take him anyway,’” he told Documented.
The younger Gutiérrez reportedly lacked any tattoos or other identifiers that US law enforcement commonly associate with the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organisation. His family said they had applied for asylum and were actively cooperating with immigration proceedings.
Wilmer Gutiérrez described a desperate search for information. “I’ve spent countless hours going from one precinct to another. No one has provided any documents or updates about his case,” he said.
The family eventually discovered via news reports that Gutiérrez had been deported under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. He was later seen in videos posted online, among detainees with shaved heads being marched in military formation inside Cecot.
“I could have understood if he’d been sent back to Venezuela,” his father said. “But why to a foreign country he’s never even been to?”
The incident follows the deportation of another individual, Kilmar Abrego García, also mistakenly sent to Cecot. Despite confirmation of the error, El Salvador’s president reportedly refused a request from the US to return García.
Monday’s meeting between Donald Trump and the Salvadoran president at the White House took place against the backdrop of a broader crackdown on noncitizens — including some with legal status and no criminal charges. Trump has also indicated interest in deporting certain US citizens convicted of violent offences to the same prison.
The Gutiérrez family remains without official documentation or clarification from ICE regarding the deportation.
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