Immigration and customs enforcement illegally deported a South Florida man who was in an immigration lawsuit, according to a federal lawsuit filed last month.
Huber Otoniel Argueta-Perez, a 35-year-old father whose wife and two young daughters are US citizens, alleges in a federal complaint that ICE recently sent him to Guatemala, despite the judge not signing deportation orders or voluntary departures.
“I am very depressed because I have been separated from my wife and our two daughters,” Argueta-Perez said in court documents.
The charges come after President Donald Trump stepped up immigrant arrests for his massive deportation efforts and his administration flew hundreds of Venezuelans to the El Salvador Mega prison, opposed to federal court orders.
The complaint filed in Miami federal court says there is reason to believe other immigrants have been illegally deported from South Florida. In his declaration of oath, Argueta-Perez said that other Guatemalan men on the plane with him had not signed any type of voluntary return. His lawyers are asking the judge to return him and others to the United States.
“If not hundreds of other detained non-citizens, if not dozens, if not dozens, of other detained, have support for evidence to show that they are violating federal immigration laws or being deported,” the complaint reads.
Lawyers require the case to be recognized as collective action as they suspect several other people are being deported illegally. The case is assigned to the Supreme Court Justice of Cecilia Altonaga, in the Southern District of Florida.
The lawsuit also poses as former ice detainees say they experienced overcrowding and inhumane circumstances at the Chrome detention facility in Miami, where Algheta Perez was held before being sent to Guatemala.
Ice told the Miami Herald it had not commented on the pending lawsuit. Homeland Security departures did not respond to an investigation into the lawsuit.
Before anyone enters an immigration court case, ICE can deport them under rapid removal if the immigrants themselves are eligible to return to their country or are permitted. However, once an immigration judge takes over the case, the Homeland Security Agency’s ICE, which handles deportation flights, can only remove immigrants if the judge issues a final deportation order or allows voluntary departures.
Alexandra Friz-Garcia, representing Argueta-Perez, a Miami-based immigration lawyer, said his client’s cases are on guard against lawyers because of the immigration laws that have been in custody.
Spend your days with Hayes
Subscribe to our free Stephenly newsletter
Columnist Stephanie Hayes shares thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday.
You’re all signed up!
Want more free weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Check out all options
“It just really shows the length this administration goes to limit the legal immigration process,” she said.
Defendants appointed in the lawsuit include Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondy, top official of Ice’s Miami Field Office, and Chrome’s supervisor deportation and detention department.
Appeal
In a sworn statement, Argueta-Perez said he was the owner of a small business that arrived in the United States 17 years ago. He married his wife, Trauma Nurse, in 2015. They have two daughters, ages 7 and 9.
For years, Argueta-Perez has been trying to obtain a green card through marriage to a US citizen. However, since he is undocumented, the process is more complicated. Since 2021 he has been waiting to go to Guatemala for a visa appointment so that he can return to the United States as a legal permanent resident.
“He’s following the proper procedures. He’s done everything right. It took years to get to this point,” Friz Garcia said.
Then on March 10th, Ice took Argueta Perez into custody after he left his child at school. The detention was linked to a missing hearing related to DUI arrests from January. The judge issued a warrant for the arrest, court documents said. However, Argueta-Perez said in a statement of oath that he had hired a defense attorney for the case and that he missed the trial because he had no idea about it.
Immigration records show that he was placed in deportation proceedings on March 10th on the same day his ice arrest. His DUI case is still pending.
Argueta-Perez said in court records that he was taken to Chrome where he experienced “a horrifying situation.” He said for nine days he slept on the floor in a sloppy room with 50 other men who had no access to phones, beds and showers. “I felt like I was suffering and broken,” he said.
Deportation
While he was in Chrome, security guards pressured him to sign off for a voluntary deportation, he said. Argueta-Perez said he refused. They also called his wife and bought the airfare to Guatemala.
On March 19th, he was placed on a plane in Guatemala. Fearing and confused, he tells the Ice Guard that he had not agreed to be deported and that he had a court date. However, the person in charge replied, “Well, you’re here now,” according to court documents.
When Argueta-Perez’s wife called Friz-Garcia and said her husband had been deported, the lawyer said she was “shocked.” Friz-Garcia and her client were talking about video calls 24 hours ago. Argueta-Perez held a bond hearing scheduled for March 20th. His lawyers pointed out there are many situations where people could become unqualified for bonds, such as entering ports of entry and questioning visas. However, Argueta-Perez was qualified.
“As far as I practice, I have never seen the situation they go to and have never illegally deported anyone with pending removal procedures,” Friz Garcia said.
The case continues in the Argueta-Perez immigration court, but no litigation hearings are scheduled.
Mark Prada, an immigration lawyer who represents Argueta-Perez as a counsel, told the Herald that illegal deportation violated the strict regulations of the Department of Homeland Security itself. Argueta-Perez “disappeared,” Prada told the Herald.
“This is an attack on the rule of law,” Prada said.
