Richard Duarte Rodriguez is a 24-year-old Venezuelan immigrant from a remote area nine hours by road from Caracas, the capital. He is the father of two young children who live in Peru. A hardworking, honest, good young man, according to his uncle, Luis Duarte, he crossed the US border in 2023, was held in a detention center, and was released with an ankle monitor. He then moved to Maimi, Florida where he lived with his aunt and her children and was granted a work permit in the United States.
"Stay calm, papi. They’ll remove that ankle monitor at any time. That’s normal because it’s a monitoring measure, and they'll remove it soon," His mother, Esperanza Rodriguez remembers telling Richard at the time.
According to a friend he met soon after arriving in Florida, everything was new to Richard: the streets, the cars, the food. He was full of awe and joy, constantly filming his surroundings, laughing at American consumerism, and lovingly mocking how Americans "have one of everything." He loved pizza, bread, McDonald’s (despite warnings from his friend Brian), and dreamed of trying Popeyes and Taco Bell for the first time.
Richard was working in the US to benefit his family, many of who were living in extreme poverty in Venezuela. According to Esperanza, he worked for a painting company in the United States, and with what Richard earned in the U.S., he supported his two children, his mother, and his four uncles with special needs. According to his friend, Brian, Richard spoke on video chat with his children in Peru every night, without fail. They were his reason to keep going. It didn’t matter if he was exhausted from work, or if they had only a few minutes
Richard was moving through the immigration process, but on January 19, 2025, at his regular check-in, Richard was detained by ICE and placed in detention. “He was under supervision, had to report regularly — and during one of those check-ins, immigration detained him, took all his belongings, put him in jail, and sent him to El Paso, Texas,” said Richard’s father, Alexander Duarte, on social media.
Richard’s parents both have said definitively that their son is not a criminal and has nothing to do with the gang, Tren de Aragua.
"No, my son is not a criminal. My son was a Christian, an evangelical. He went to church with his aunt. My son is not a criminal, never. He was raised with respect," Esperanza said with tears.
Richard called his relatives while detained. He told them he was going to be sent back to Venezuela. But then, “his aunt, who is in the United States, told me [he had been sent to CECOT prison in El Salvador] and sent me the video. And I recognized him by his face — it was my son," said Esperanza. It was at that point Richard’s family knew he had been sent without charges or due process to a foreign prison, where beatings are regular, prisoners are not allowed contact with anyone including lawyers or family, and no medical care is provided.
Since then Richard’s friends and family have been struggling to get the attention of the world. They need our help to get Richard out of that prison and back with his family where he belongs.
https://dissentinbloom.substack.com/p/breaking-no-trial-no-charges-just
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufiuZtdVNWs
https://www.instagram.com/lamismataty/reel/DHfAoRPtjRL/