Kevin Johan Nieto Contreras

Kevin Johan Nieto Contreras is 27 years old. His father, Kevin Sr. worked in the Táchira state government in Venezuela and has been an opponent of the Maduro regime for many years. The state of Táchira has always been a stronghold of the opposition to the Maduro regime.

Kevin Sr. was well known for his moral character and integrity. The Maduro administration wanted him to campaign on their behalf, but he refused because it went against his principles, and he was aware of many abuses committed against members of the opposition.

The government began to attack him and sent armed groups to threaten and intimidate him. The violent fear tactics of the government took a psychological toll on him, and his psychiatrist declared him temporarily incapacitated to work.

The government then began to attack his wife, who was the victim of a robbery by the Criminalistic Investigation Service Corps (CICPC). Kevin Johan Nieto, the eldest son, enjoyed going out with his friends, and the Maduro government began to threaten to “plant drugs” on him.

When their younger son graduated from college in the United States, Kevin Sr. traveled to the graduation ceremony. While he was gone, his wife told him that criminal investigators had discovered that he was away and were prowling around the house. They even took a computer he had at home for “investigations.”

At that point, his wife decided to go to the United States on a tourist visa, and they stayed there permanently in 2019. In December 2019, Kevin Sr. applied for asylum, but he was sent to court for not presenting enough evidence.

Two years later, Kevin Sr. and his wife sent for their son Kevin Jr. and he entered the US on June 10, 2021, on a tourist visa. He applied for asylum and the facts of his application are linked to that of Kevin Sr. because he also suffered persecution as a result of his father's political activities.

Kevin bought a car and worked at DoorDash. In 2023, he became close with a new friend. In April 2023, Kevin's friend said that someone had an accident, and they needed help changing a tire. Kevin went with his friend to help. When they arrived, there were other people who forced Kevin to remain in the car while they took him somewhere else. It was a remote place, between Denver and another county in Douglas. Kevin then realized he was being kidnapped.

At midnight, Kevin’s father received a call that woke him up. The kidnappers asked him for $2,000 in ransom.

Kevin Sr. went to file a police report in Douglas County, Colorado; they were surprised because this had never happened there before. Kevin Sr. explained everything, and the police called a Venezuelan police officer to try to negotiate with the kidnappers, who claimed to be from Tren de Aragua. The police did not know if they were saying this to scare them or if it was really true. The kidnappers were captured and convicted.

Kevin Jr. did not apply for TPS because his paralegal told him that, due to his application for the T Visa, the TPS was unnecessary because Keven was victim of human trafficking. By not applying for TPS, he was left unprotected in the middle of the asylum process.

At the end of November 2023, Kevin Jr. was arrested during a police incident at a nightclub in Colorado, where a small amount of a prohibited substance was found. He was advised by his public defender that a guilty plea for this minor offense would not significantly impact his asylum application, he was advised to plead guilty to avoid a lengthy trial.

Kevin Jr. was then arrested on October 23, 2024 by immigration at his home, according to his girlfriend. According to his family’s testimony, Kevin Jr. told them that the judge asked him why he was there and told him that he was in the country illegally. Kevin Jr. replied that he was not illegal because he had applied for asylum. The judge explained that he would refer him to the asylum judge, but he remained in detention.

Then Kevin disappeared from the Aurora detention center tracker system, and he was listed as “released.” His girlfriend tried to send him money and recharge his account. Two days later, in mid March, 2025 Kevin called from a detention center in Texas and told his family that he had been taken away in the early morning and put on a bus, claiming that they were taking them to Venezuela.

That was the last his family heard from Kevin. They never imagined that he would be taken to El Salvador, they only found out when they read the list of people flown to El Salvador and put in the notorious Cecot prison.

Kevin is represented by lawyers at RFK Human Rights. In late April 2025 his lawyers traveled to El Salvador and attempted to contact Kevin and their other clients, but their request for access to their clients were denied. The lawyers were also denied access to the President and Vice President of El Salvador.

“Despite the rights of our clients and thousands of other Salvadorans to be served by their lawyers, the Salvadoran government, starting with President Bukele, has failed to respect these rights, denying us, their lawyers, access to our clients," Kerry Kennedy, president of RFK Human Rights denounced.

#bluetrianglesolidarity

 

 

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