Widmer Josneyder Agelviz Sanguino is a 24-year-old with no criminal record in any country. He was studying Electrical Engineer in Venezuela when his family decided to escape the economic and political disaster in their home country. Widmer, his mom and siblings, entered the US in the summer of 2024 as previously vetted refugees through the UN Refugee Settlement program. Although the rest of the family was admitted to the US, Widmer was detained because ICE said a tattoo of a rose on his arm indicated he was a member of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.
Widmer was detained despite experts saying no tattoos used to identify that gang. His family hired a lawyer, and he was moving through the process of making his asylum claim while in ICE detention, his next court date was to be April 1st. Then one day, he called his mom, terrified. He had been told to change into a red uniform; the ones used for violent criminals. He hadn’t been charged with any crime.
His mom reached out to ICE and they told her the uniform change was “just a technical” thing and not to worry, but then she stopped hearing from her son and he disappeared from the online list of detainees. To her horror, two weeks later she discovered that Widmer had been sent to the torture prison in El Salvador, CECOT, where beatings are common, prisoners are not allowed to go outside or have contact with their loved ones, and no medical care is available.
Widmer’s family have appealed to the international community and to the ACLU. They are desperate for their boy and worried that he won’t survive long in prison.
Update:
On May 19th, 2025, District Court Judge Keith Ellison gave the government 24 hours to provide evidence of Widmer Josneyder Agelviz Sanguino's location and health and explain the basis for his continued detention.
Then on Wednesday, May 21, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday paused the lower court’s orders. “That win for the Trump administration could now be the final word in the case – as notices of dismissal soon followed the ruling,” MSN reported.