Marcos is 34 years old and will turn 35 on April 30. In 2016, he left Venezuela for Colombia due to the economic crisis in the country, where there was no food or medicine. He stayed in Colombia for six months and then moved to Ecuador, where he lived with his mother for five years. In Ecuador, he met his wife and they had a son who is now three years old. Marcos worked as a bricklayer and then selling clothes. In Venezuela, he worked as a graduate in administration and did internships at the company MISTRAL.
His mother began to suffer from breast cancer, and he decided to accompany her to Ecuador to help her and provide her with access to medicine. In 2022, his mother’s cancer returned and she underwent surgery. Due to the high costs, Marcos decided to go to the United States to earn more money and help his mother with her medication. He traveled through the Darién, leaving his wife, son, and mother in Ecuador.
He arrived in Mexico City, where he was kidnapped for five days and had to pay a ransom of $3,000. He then turned himself in to the authorities and spent three days in a detention center. He contacted his mother and informed her that he was being treated well, that he had food and clothes, and that migrants were receiving sufficient assistance. They also bought him a plane ticket to Orlando, Florida, through a humanitarian organization. Since 2022, Marcos has been living in Orlando.
The first thing he did was wash cars, which allowed him to earn some money to buy clothes. His son was hospitalized for eight days with pneumonia but recovered. Marcos found work at a pizzeria for a year and then at the Paris bakery, where he worked for about eight months.
He applied for TPS and was approved, which granted him a work permit. He also applied for asylum and had his hearing scheduled for 2027. Although he appeared at the hearings, they were postponed. He had a device that allowed him to take a photo and send it to immigration every Tuesday.
On March 12, 2025, at 3 p.m., ICE agents arrived at the bakery and called him by name, asking him to raise his arms. They handcuffed him and took him away, identifying themselves as ICE agents. Marcos did not speak English well, and the agents communicated with him in that language. He called the woman who rented him his home and informed her that he had been arrested by ICE, asking her to pick up his car. He did not call back for two days, which caused concern for his mother and wife. His wife contacted Mrs. Marisela, the landlord, who confirmed that immigration had taken Marcos, but she did not want to disclose this information earlier hoping that he would be released, given the mother’s frail health condition. Marcos’ wife began searching for information in the system and discovered that he had been transferred from Miami to La Villa, Texas (East Hidalgo Detention Center). Initially, he appeared in the registry, but then no further information about him could be found. They tried to call, but no one answered.
They assumed he might be deported to Venezuela. On Tuesday, March 17, a list of names of people in El Salvador appeared, and they found Marcos’ name on it. They went to the embassy to ask for help, but they were told that they had no information about him.
They were told to go to the ICE office in San Antonio to ask for information about his whereabouts.
Credit: RFK Human rights