A Venezuelan man reportedly took a wrong turn onto the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, crossing into Canada, and was then allegedly detained and deported to El Salvador when he tried to return to U.S. soil.
Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a 32-year-old Venezuelan immigrant legally residing in the U.S., was working as a delivery driver in January in Detroit and had picked up an order at McDonald’s when he made the wrong turn, according to the New York Times, which first published the report.
Prada was detained while attempting to re-enter the U.S. at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and was taken into custody and put in detention before he was deported.
The publication reports that Prada told a friend in Chicago that he was among a number of detainees housed in Texas on March 15.
“He has simply disappeared,” his friend Javier told the Times.
(Global News reached out to the Canada Border Service Agency for further information, but since the individual was detained upon entry to the U.S., it had no further information.)
On that same evening in March, the Trump administration flew three planes carrying Venezuelan migrants from the Texas facility to El Salvador, where they have since been locked up in maximum-security prison and denied contact with people outside the prison.
The Times also reported that it searched for Prada through records and could not find him on a list of 238 people who were deported to El Salvador, and also could not identify him in photos and videos of shackled prisoners.
On April 22, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed on X that Prada was sent to El Salvador on March 15 and denied the New York Times’ report, saying, “FALSE. Ricardo Jesus Prada Vasquez is a Venezuelan national and confirmed member of Tren de Aragua, entered the United States on Nov. 29, 2024 at the Brownsville, Texas Port of Entry via a CBP One app appointment.”
“Prada was paroled into the US and served with a notice to appear before an immigration judge,” the statement continued. “On Jan. 15, Prada was encountered at the Detroit Windsor Tunnel in Detroit, Michigan attempting to enter the U.S. from Canada and was referred to secondary inspection.
“Further investigation resulted in Prada being designated a public safety threat as a confirmed member of TdA and in violation of his conditions of admission. Prada was apprehended and transferred to ICE Michigan for detention.
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“On Feb. 27, an immigration judge ordered Prada removed from the U.S. On March 15, Prada was removed to El Salvador.”
Prada’s family and friends deny his involvement in any gangs, including TdA, a criminal group operating in the U.S.
Tren de Aragua was formally designated a “foreign terrorist organization” in the U.S. on Feb. 19.
The move carried out a Jan. 20 executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said the group’s international connections and operations — including the trafficking of drugs, including fentanyl, and migrants into the U.S. — warranted the designation.
On April 16, a federal judge said he had found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court for violating his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg warned he could refer the matter for prosecution if the administration does not “purge” its contempt. Boasberg said the administration could do so by returning to U.S. custody those who were sent to the El Salvador prison in violation of his order so that they “might avail themselves of their right to challenge their removability.”
If the Justice Department declines to prosecute the matter, Boasberg said he will appoint another lawyer to prosecute the contempt.
“The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders — especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it,” Boasberg wrote.
It marks an escalation in a battle between the judicial and executive branches of government over a president’s powers to carry out key White House priorities. Trump has called for Boasberg’s impeachment, while the Justice Department has accused the judge of overstepping his authority.
Boasberg, who was nominated to the federal bench by Democratic former president Barack Obama, ordered the administration last month not to deport anyone in its custody under the Alien Enemies Act. Trump invoked the 1798 wartime law over what he claimed was an invasion by Tren de Aragua.
When Boasberg was told there were already planes in the air headed to El Salvador, which has agreed to house deported migrants in a notorious prison, the judge said the aircraft needed to be returned to the United States.
Hours later, El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, announced that the deportees had arrived in his country. In a social media post, he said, “Oopsie…too late,” along with a laughing emoji, above an article referencing Boasberg’s order.
— With files from The Associated Press
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