After spending 125 days in El Salvador’s notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison, Merwil Gutiérrez, a 20-year-old asylum seeker detained in the Bronx, was released last Friday to Venezuela with more than 200 other detainees, Documented has learned.
Merwil’s release was part of a prisoner swap coordinated by the three countries in exchange for 10 U.S. nationals and multiple Venezuelan political prisoners. The release of the detainees adds a new chapter in the ongoing saga of the Trump administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which the federal courts have said violated the due process of immigrants to have their day at court. A CBS 60 Minutes report found that 75% of the 238 men sent to CECOT had no criminal record in the United States. A report by THE CITY and Documented also found that Merwil had been arrested by the NYPD but not prosecuted.
Also Read: ICE Took His Son From Their Bronx Home. Now His 19-Year-Old Is In Bukele’s Mega-prison In El Salvador
In a video exclusively shared with Documented, Wisleidy Gutiérrez, Merwil’s sister, appears at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela last Friday. She stands rigidly in front the airport’s automatic doors, her eyes fixed on the entrance, her hands fidgeting with anticipation. The emotional laughter of the crowd can be heard in the background. She wears a white shirt with a graphic that reads: “devuelvan a los chamos,” or “return the boys.” (Chamo is Venezuelan slang for boy, or buddy.)
By around 7 p.m. cheers begin to ripple through the crowd as, one by one, the 200 Venezuelans who had been sent to CECOT emerge at last. Families push forward, arms outstretched, tears and laughter mingling as they greet their loved ones. The families cry out in excitement the names of their loved ones, rushing toward them for long-awaited embraces.
Wisleidy peeks past the doors toward the staircase of the airplane just outside. She holds her breath as each figure descends, scanning thoroughly each person that enters the doors. Until finally, she sees her brother, Merwil. He steps into view at the entrance wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. His face blushes, crumbling with emotion. Wisleidy rushes toward him and collapses into his arms. His body shakes as he buries his face in her shoulder. They cling to each other, his sobs muffled against her as the crowd screams with joy around them.
While the families celebrate, taking to social media to express their relief of having their loved ones home, the future of the Venezuelan migrants — many of whom were once asylum seekers in the U.S. — remains uncertain in the very country they fled.
“My brain has not been able to process all of those things because I have not been able to sleep well; I have cried a lot — tears that are more of happiness,” Wisleidy said in Spanish in a video posted on Facebook. “I know a lot of you are anxious and are wondering if my brother is with me. But no. What happened yesterday is that I saw him and hugged him. I confirmed that he was my family. But my brother is undergoing a process of reentry to the country,” she said, adding that she will let the people know when Merwil arrives home.
Also Read: Arrested by the NYPD but Not Prosecuted, They’re Now Imprisoned in El Salvador
Wilmer Gutiérrez, Merwil’s father who still lives in the apartment in the Bronx where his son was arrested, shared on his WhatsApp status a photo of Merwil donning a blue shirt, with the caption: “Grateful for our father, God. I love you my king.” Speaking in Spanish, he told Documented that he was relieved. “Thank God my son is over there now. I still haven’t been able to talk to him because they’re still being held. They only allowed them to see him briefly at the airport entrance, but after that, each person had to be processed,” he said.
Across social media, family members and organizations representing those sent to CECOT also shared similar messages of celebration online, while decrying the violation of their due process. “We are incredibly relieved that it appears most of them have been freed from the torture prison the U.S. government sent them to, and potentially may be reunited with family soon. But as an American, and as a lawyer who believes deeply in the rule of law and due process, my heart remains heavy. What happened here is a dangerous travesty of justice,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, president and CEO of Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) in a press release following the news announcement. ImmDef is the law firm representing eight of the men seeking asylum, including Andry José Hernández Romero, a hair stylist and asylum seeker who was also sent to CECOT.
Toczylowski added: “While we are grateful they will not spend another night being tortured in El Salvador, we also grieve the ongoing and lasting damage being done to our democracy by an administration that is willing to violate our Constitution, U.S. asylum laws, and international law.”
During the time Gutiérrez was detained at CECOT, State Senator Gustavo Rivera (D–Bronx) strongly condemned ICE’s detention and deportation of the teen, calling it a “daylight kidnapping” and “authoritarian cruelty.” He criticized the racial profiling and the lack of due process involved, as well as demanded that Gutiérrez be released and reunited with his family. Others, including Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Bronx Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Adriano Espaillat also called for his release.
In the meantime, as Merwil undergoes the reentry process and is cleared to join his sister in Los Teques, a town near Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, Wisleidy shared a video to her 15 thousand followers on Facebook, saying: “I will share with you photos of him. I will share with you the story because you guys are part of this process.”
As for Wilmer, he is preparing to go back home to Venezuela, because he only wants to be with his son. “There’s nothing left for me to do here in the U.S. Those were months of great sadness and despair and I’m glad that I can now focus on other things, like maybe looking for a girlfriend,” he joked.
你知道吗？非公民办理驾照时的这个错误可能会导致选民欺诈
Wisleidy Gutiérrez told Documented that the family is preparing a welcome party for him as they await his release. However, she added, “He isn’t emotionally well — he needs to rest,” something that’s clearly visible in the video, where he appears with tear-filled eyes and a blank stare.
This is a developing story.
