HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

Nicaraguan former political prisoner deported to Honduras after DUI arrest led to ICE custody

Dec 1, 2025

Country of origin: Nicaragua

Nicaraguan former political prisoner deported to Honduras after DUI arrest led to ICE custody
Photo via hrw.org

Juan Barilla, 35, a peasant farmer from San Miguelito in Nicaragua's Río San Juan department, spent 29 months imprisoned after being kidnapped by paramilitaries in 2020, and was among 222 political prisoners the Ortega-Murillo government expelled to the United States in February 2023, stripping him of his nationality. He resettled in Louisiana with humanitarian parole and a work permit, but was arrested by local police on April 5, 2025 for driving under the influence; even after a judge ordered his release following his 112-day sentence, he was held because of an ICE appointment, and ICE took him into custody in July 2025. Representing himself without a lawyer through several immigration court hearings on his pending asylum case, he said he was never allowed to present notarized evidence of his imprisonment and torture in Nicaragua. In October 2025, prosecutors sought protection for him under the Convention Against Torture with removal to Honduras rather than asylum, and he was deported there on November 29, 2025, describing being shackled at the hands, feet and waist 'like a criminal.' He is now under temporary UNHCR protection in Honduras and says he fears transnational retaliation from the Nicaraguan regime.

Timeline

Dec 1, 2025—Placed under temporary UNHCR protection in Honduras, expressing fear of regional retaliation from Nicaraguan authorities
Nov 29, 2025—Deported from the United States to Honduras, shackled during transfer
Oct 1, 2025—Immigration judge, at government's request, considered protection under Convention Against Torture with removal to Honduras instead of asylum
Jul 1, 2025—Taken into ICE custody after completing 112-day jail sentence and transferred to Winfield detention center
Apr 5, 2025—Arrested by local police in Louisiana for driving under the influence
Feb 1, 2023—Expelled to the United States with 221 other political prisoners and stripped of Nicaraguan nationality
Jan 1, 2020—Kidnapped by paramilitaries in Nicaragua
Suggest a correction, comment, or update

Sources

Related incidents