Colombian man with CAT protection shackled, deported to Congo, later returns home
Apr 21, 2026
Country of origin: Colombia
Carlos Rodelo, a 43-year-old from Barranquilla, Colombia, fled his home country after being repeatedly extorted and entered the U.S. through the Mexican border, where a federal judge granted him protection under the Convention Against Torture, barring his return to Colombia but not to a third country. Detained since August, Rodelo was held at the Alexandria, Louisiana airport and shackled without food by ICE agents despite his objections and a pending habeas corpus challenge, then flown via Dakar and Accra to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a Trump Administration third-country deportation agreement covering the first group of 15 Latin Americans. Rodelo, who has diabetes and other medical conditions, described feeling like a prisoner in Congo despite being told he was free, and stayed in a Kinshasa hotel hoping to be repatriated. The Department of Homeland Security asserted he had violated the terms of his parole. Rodelo later returned to Colombia through the International Organization for Migration's Assisted Voluntary Return program.
Timeline
Sources
- Un inmigrante colombiano deportado a El Congo nos comparte lo que vive en África
- “No me explico cómo estoy aquí”: La historia de Carlos Rodelo, el colombiano deportado de EEUU a África
- greytastudio.com
- Latin American Migrants Deported to Congo Return to Countries Deemed Unsafe by US Courts
latintimes.com·Jun 8, 2026·archived copy
- Colombians stranded in Congo after being expelled from the US: ‘I never thought I would get to know Africa under these circumstances’
english.elpais.com·Apr 21, 2026·archived copy
- elpais.com
- Hay dos colombianos en primera deportación de migrantes de EE.UU. al Congo
lasillavacia.com·Apr 21, 2026
- Colombianos deportados al Congo: Cómo el asilo en EE. UU. terminó en traslado a terceros países
elcolombiano.com·2026-4-23 11:11:5
es-us.noticias.yahoo.com·Apr 23, 2026
- Migrante colombiano fue deportado por Estados Unidos, a la República del Congo: “Nos dejaron tirados aquí”
infobae.com·Apr 21, 2026
Related incidents
- Man who told agents 'I'm a citizen' deported from Texas days laterOct 8, 2026 · TX
- Men detained in Dover, NJ raid held at Roxbury warehouse; one deported to HondurasOct 8, 2026 · Dover, NJ
- US deported 500+ people to third-country African nations despite torture, persecution risksOct 8, 2026
- Medford father deported to Mexico, leaving wife and five children behindOct 7, 2026 · Medford, OR
- Phoenix man unlawfully deported to Equatorial Guinea, beaten and missing after speaking to pressOct 7, 2026 · Tucson, AZ
- Cuban man detained in Florida, deported to Central African Republic, held in BanguiOct 6, 2026 · West Palm Beach, FL