People of Detention

Synopsis

Frengel Reyes Mota is a Venezuelan national who fled insecurity and economic hardship in Ciudad Ojeda, Zulia state, and sought asylum in the United States with his wife and 10-year-old stepson. The American Immigration Council highlighted his case among men deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025, without due process. ICE detained Reyes Mota at a routine Tampa check-in on February 4, 2025, accusing him of ties to Tren de Aragua without presenting evidence, according to his family and a Miami Herald investigation cited by the Council. His wife said he had no tattoos and no criminal record in Venezuela or the United States. The Herald reported that ICE paperwork accusing him of gang ties listed the wrong last name in multiple places and used female pronouns, suggesting a possible copy-paste error from another person's file. After detention at Krome in Miami, Reyes Mota was transferred to Texas and placed on a March 15 deportation flight to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison. His family learned his location only from published deportee lists. Reporting indicates he was among Venezuelans later released through a U.S.–Venezuela prisoner exchange on July 18, 2025. TIMELINE November 2023 — Reyes Mota flees Venezuela with his family and enters the United States through the CBP One process to pursue asylum (Human Rights Watch, NILC). February 4, 2025 — ICE detains him during a required check-in in Tampa, alleging Tren de Aragua ties without showing evidence (Miami Herald, Immigration Council). March 15, 2025 — Deported to CECOT in El Salvador on a mass removal flight; family loses direct contact (Immigration Council, NILC). March 24, 2025 — Scheduled asylum hearing passes without him after ICE removes him from court jurisdiction (Miami Herald). July 18, 2025 — Released from CECOT as part of a U.S.–Venezuela prisoner exchange involving roughly 252 Venezuelan deportees (NILC, Immigration Council follow-on reporting). This profile summarizes published reporting; legal status and location may change.

Frengel Reyes Mota

Synopsis

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