Belmary Aragonés experienced eight days of anguish without being able to locate her son Gustavo D'Meza Aragonés, a 23-year-old Cuban who was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in South Florida, according to a report by Telemundo 51.
ICE arrested the young man, a painter by trade, on October 9 in South Florida. His mother lost all contact with him starting October 13: the agency's official detainee locator showed his name, but not the facility where he was held.
"I'm desperate," declared Belmary Aragonés, who could not obtain information about the whereabouts or health status of her son despite consulting the official system.
El caso de Gustavo es uno de los muchos que afectan a familias cubanas en Estados Unidos. Sigue toda la información sobre detenciones, deportaciones y derechos migratorios en nuestra sección de
It was the intervention of Telemundo 51 that uncovered a response: ICE informed the media that Gustavo had been transferred to Larkin Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, for a medical evaluation, and that this procedure "is part of the established medical care for detainees."
The agency did not specify the reason for the hospitalization or the boy's health condition.
D'Meza's lawyer, Avelino González, openly questioned the transfer: his client "was healthy and did not suffer from chronic illnesses," so he found no explanation for the hospitalization.
González also warned that the situation complicates the legal defense of his client: while D'Meza remains in a hospital and not in a registered immigration detention center, the family faces obstacles in requesting a bail hearing.
The young man arrived in the United States in 2024, applied for permanent residency, and was awaiting a decision when he was detained. ICE argued that the young man "did not adjust his immigration status nor left the United States when he was supposed to" and that he will remain in custody "while deportation proceedings continue."
The case has a criminal background: last August, Gustavo was arrested for a domestic violence incident involving a minor sister. González stated that the charges were later dismissed.
The mother recounted that her son called her at some point from a private number and could only tell her that he was fine, without revealing his location or any additional details.
The case is set against a backdrop of increasing complaints regarding ICE's lack of transparency about the location of detainees. A federal class action lawsuit against ICE filed in early October by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Americans for Immigrant Justice documents "dehumanizing" conditions at the agency's office in Miramar, Florida: 342 individuals held in a facility designed for between 50 and 56, a shortage of food and water, and restrictions on legal calls and visits.
The arrests of Cubans by ICE in Florida would have increased by 463% between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2026, according to data collected in that lawsuit.
To locate a relative detained by ICE, families can use the Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS), available at locator.ice.gov/odls, where searches can be conducted by name, A-number, country, and date of birth. The system may take up to 48 hours to update after a recent detention or transfer, which, in cases like D'Meza's, leaves families without information during critical days.
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