ICE illegally deported South Florida dad to Guatemala, perhaps others, lawsuit claims

Immigration and Customs Enforcement illegally deported a South Florida man who was in immigration proceedings — and there are also likely “dozens, if not hundreds” of others who have also been unlawfully flown back to their home countries, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week.

Huber Otoniel Argueta-Perez, a 35-year-old father whose wife and two young daughters are U.S. citizens, claims in a federal complaint filed Wednesday that ICE recently sent him to Guatemala even though a judge had not signed off on a deportation order or a voluntary departure.

“I am extremely depressed, as I was ripped away from my wife and our two minor daughters,” Argueta-Perez said in court documents.

The accusations come as President Donald Trump ramps up immigration arrests for his mass deportation efforts, and nearly two weeks after his administration flew hundreds of Venezuelans to an El Salvador mega prison in possible defiance of a federal court order.

The complaint, filed in Miami federal court, says there is reason to believe other immigrants have been unlawfully deported from South Florida. Argueta-Perez said in a sworn declaration that other Guatemalan men on the plane with him had not signed any type of voluntary return. His lawyers are requesting that the judge return him and others to the United States.

“There will likely be evidentiary support to show that there are dozens, if not hundreds of other detained noncitizens” who have been, are, or will be deported in violation of federal immigration law, the complaint reads.

Attorneys are requesting that the lawsuit be certified as a class-action since they suspect several other people have also been illegally deported. The case has been assigned to the chief judge for the Southern District of Florida, Cecilia Altonaga.

The lawsuit also comes as former ICE detainees say they experienced overcrowding and inhumane conditions at the Krome detention facility in Miami, where Argueta-Perez was held before being sent to Guatemala.

READ MORE: ‘Inhumane:’ Overcrowding strains Krome detention center amid Trump’s immigrant crackdown

ICE told the Miami Herald that it does not comment on pending litigation. The Departure of Homeland Security did not respond to an inquiry about the lawsuit.

Before someone enters immigration court proceedings, ICE can deport them under expedited removal if they qualify or authorize the an immigrant’s own to return to their own country. But once an immigration judge takes over the case, ICE, the Homeland Security agency that handles deportation flights, can only remove an immigrant if a judge has issued a final deportation order or grants a voluntary departure.

Alexandra Friz-Garcia, a Miami-based immigration lawyer representing Argueta-Perez, said that her client’s case has alarmed lawyers because of the implications that long-standing immigration laws are not being followed.

“It just really does show the lengths that this administration is going to go to to limit legal immigration processes as well,” she said.

The defendants named in the lawsuit include Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi, top officials in ICE’s Miami field office and the Supervisory Deportation and Detention Office at Krome.

The allegations

In a sworn statement, Argueta-Perez said he was a small business owner who arrived in the U.S. 17 years ago. He married his wife, a trauma nurse, in 2015. They have two daughters, ages 7 and 9.

For years, Argueta-Perez has been trying to get a green card through his marriage with a U.S. citizen. But because he was undocumented, the process is more complicated. Since 2021, he had been waiting to go to Guatemala for a visa appointment so he could come back to the U.S. as a legal permanent resident.

“He has followed the proper procedure. He did everything right. It took years to get to this point,” said Friz-Garcia, who reached out to then U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s office to see if his office could help the family speed up their case.

Then, on March 10, ICE detained Argueta-Perez after he left his kids at school. The detention was related to missing a hearing related to a DUI arrest from January. The judge issued a warrant for his arrest, court documents said. But Argueta-Perez said in his sworn statement that he had hired a defense lawyer for that case and missed the court hearing because he didn’t know about it.

Immigration records show he was placed in deportation proceedings March 10, the same day as his ICE arrest. His DUI case is still pending.

Argueta-Perez said in court records that he was taken to Krome, where he experienced “horrific conditions.” For nine days, he said, he slept on the floor in a cramped room with 50 other men with no access to telephones, bed or showers. “I was in pain and felt broken,” he said.

The deportation

While he was at Krome, guards pressured him to sign off on a voluntary deportation, he said. Argueta-Perez said he refused. They also called his wife to buy him airfare to Guatemala.

On March 19, he was put on a plane to Guatemala. Scared and confused, he told an ICE guard that he had not agreed to be deported and that he had a court date. But the official just replied: “Well, you are here now,” according to the court documents.

When Argueta-Perez’s wife called Friz-Garcia to tell her her husband had been deported, the lawyer said she was “shocked.” Friz-Garcia and her client had spoken over a video call less than 24 hours before. Argueta-Perez had a bond hearing scheduled for March 20. His lawyers noted there are many circumstances which might make a person ineligible for bond, such as coming in at a port of entry and having a visa questioned. But Argueta-Perez was eligible.

“As long as I’ve been practicing, I have never seen a situation where they would go and illegally deport someone that has pending removal proceedings,” Friz-Garcia said.

A hearing for the lawsuit has not been scheduled, though Argueta-Perez’s proceedings in immigration court continue.

Immigration attorney Mark Prada, who is representing Argueta-Perez as co-counsel, told the Herald that the unlawful deportations go against the Department of Homeland Security’s own stringent regulations. Argueta-Perez had been “disappeared,” Prada told the Herald.

“This is an assault on the rule of law,’ Prada said. “Our client Huber never agreed to this.”

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This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 6:00 PM.