An engineer of Venezuelan origin was hired to carry out technical work at a Border Patrol station in Florida.
Their entry was previously authorized after a security review.
However, when he managed to complete the task, instead of tools, he received handcuffs: he ended up detained and spent 30 days in the immigration center known as "Alligator Alcatraz."
A disastrous job interview
Ángel Camacho, a systems engineer with a master's degree in telecommunications and project manager, was summoned to the Border Patrol station in Dania Beach to inspect a new intercom system.
According to NBC, his employer sent his driver's license in advance for security verification, and on January 5, an employee of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed via email that he was "approved" to enter.
"We just need to know what time she'll arrive, so we can be ready", said the message.
The next day, when Camacho arrived at the location, they were indeed waiting for him.
“I say: ‘Good morning. I am Ángel.’ And they say: ‘Oh yes, we’ve been expecting you,’” the affected individual recounted in an interview with NBC6 Investigates.
"They tell me, 'I have to stop him.' I said, 'Are you kidding?'" he recounted.
But it wasn't a joke. He was arrested at the same facility he had gone to as a contractor.
Without a record, with a work permit… but detained
Camacho arrived in the United States in 2016 on a tourist visa. He is an asylum seeker, received Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and has applied for permanent residency as he is married to a U.S. citizen, with whom he is raising children born in the country.
He/She has no criminal record.
“I have a work permit, Social Security number, driver's license, and I pay my taxes every year,” affirmed the 43-year-old professional, who is a homeowner.
However, he/she still does not have permanent resident status or citizenship.
Amid the tightening of immigration policies and deportation goals driven by the administration of President Donald Trump, that immigration status was enough to detain him.
After spending a night in a holding area of the Border Patrol, he was transferred to the detention center in the Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz," where he stayed for 30 days.
“It’s the worst nightmare I’ve ever been in”, he said about the center, asserting that he was locked up with individuals who have criminal backgrounds.
"That's not a place for anyone, especially if you've never committed any crime," he added.
When the center opened in July, the president promised that it would house "some of the most threatening migrants, some of the most violent people on the planet."
However, data from ICE reviewed by NBC Investigates up until mid-October indicates that only one in four men detained there has a criminal record, and only 7% have been convicted of violent crimes.
Currently, around 70,000 people are in ICE custody, a record number.
Federal detention centers are receiving an increasing proportion of migrants with no criminal records.
The exit: A judge intervened
Ángel Camacho was not released from custody due to an internal case review or an administrative decision by ICE. His freedom came through the judicial process.
Their lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition before a federal court, a legal mechanism that allows for challenging the legality of a detention and requires the government to justify to a judge why an individual is being deprived of their freedom.
In his case, the defense argued that he had no criminal record, that he had a valid work permit under TPS, that he had applied for permanent residency through marriage, and that he did not pose a danger or flight risk.
Finally, a federal judge ordered his release after approximately 30 days in detention.
Her case is part of a wave of immigration lawsuits in Florida.
According to NBC6 Investigates, while last year there were an average of five habeas corpus petitions per month in the federal courts of the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, starting in November, the number surged to almost 400 just last month.
Lawyers Liliana Gómez and Deliane Quiles have been advocating for many of these resources after reporting that, last summer, the administration suddenly began denying bail hearings to individuals detained within the country, even those without a criminal record.
“The law has been the same for the last 30 years, and suddenly the government decided to change it, and now we have this avalanche of lawsuits”, stated Gómez.
The case of Camacho presents a troubling image that is hard to ignore: he was previously "approved" by the federal agency itself to enter an official facility as a contractor and ended up spending a month in one of the most controversial detention centers in the country.
What started as a workday turned into a federal lawsuit to regain his freedom.
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