Former Ecuadorian minister’s U.S. detention is politically motivated, lawyer claims

A former Ecuadorian minister with a pending asylum case has spent over a month in immigration custody in South Florida, a detention his lawyers and loved ones say is politically motivated.

José Serrano Salgado, a high-profile politician who served as Minister of Interior and National Assembly President in the leftist government of Ecuadorian former president Rafael Correa, has been living in Miami since 2021. The former human-rights lawyer entered on a tourist visa and filed for political asylum in October of that year, claiming the governments that succeeded Correa were persecuting him.

On Aug. 7, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him while he was getting the mail outside his home in South Florida. Authorities told him that he had overstayed his visa.

When the Miami Herald asked the Department of Homeland Security in August to clarify why it had detained Serrano Salgado, the agency said it had nothing to share at the time “due to operational security.” It did not respond to a second inquiry the Herald sent this week asking for details about his detention.

On the day of Serrano Salgado’s first immigration hearing on Aug. 18, which was ultimately canceled, the Ecuadorian Attorney General’s office said it was opening an investigation into several political figures, including Serrano Salgaldo, and their potential involvement in the 2023 murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Serrano Salgado has also been named in other investigations in Ecuador.

On Sept. 3, Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office requested preventive detention for Serrano Salgado and two other Ecuadorian politicians accused in the murder of Villavicencio. The Ecuadorian office also asked Interpol to issue an international alert known as a red notice for those not currently in the country, including Serrano Salgado. Meanwhile, he remains in Miami’s Krome detention center.

Serrano Salgado’s immigration attorney, Robert Sheldon, accused the Trump administration of using the former official – whom the Drug Enforcement Agency once honored publicly for assisting the U.S. in international corruption and drug-trafficking investigations – as a bargaining chip in diplomatic relations. He emphasized that Ecuadorian authorities had met with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and signed a law enforcement exchange program less than a week before Serrano Salgado’s detention.

Sheldon also dismissed the allegations that Serrano Salgado was involved in the murder of Villavicencio, a congressman shot after a rally in Quito. Villavicencio’s widow said that her husband’s death had been used as a “political weapon,” that the prosecutor’s office was fabricating evidence in her husband’s assassination to implicate opponents, and that President Daniel Noboa was covering up key information about the case.

. On June 25, Serrano Salgado posted a statement on X, denouncing a “setup” to falsely implicate him in Villavicencio’s murder.

“The U.S. is trading my client for something,” Sheldon said. “What are the charges? What kind of asylum system do we have if we fail to uphold due process for an asylum seeker?”

Sheldon said he is not aware of any Interpol notices.

“Our opinion is that all of this actually strengthens the asylum case, as the charges are ludicrous,” he said. “Serrano was in the United States and out of power for two years when Villavicencio was killed. Ecuador is pretty much a narco state at this point, and all of this is politically motivated to ensure that the Ecuadorian government’s most prominent and credible critic is returned by the United States.”

This week, Sheldon sued the federal government over his client’s detention, claiming he is being illegally being held in federal custody. The complaint, obtained by the Herald, emphasizes that Serrano Salgado is a fierce critic of Noboa and has accused the first family of Ecuador of drug dealing

Serrano Salgado had a bond hearing scheduled for Thursday at Krome, but it was postponed until Sept. 16. His next hearing in the asylum case is set for Sept. 30.

Serrano Salgado has been named in multiple ongoing investigations by the Attorney General’s Office in Ecuador. Those include allegations of coercing financial contributions from Interior Ministry staff, potential involvement in the 2023 kidnapping of political activist Fernando Balda, the attempted murder of attorney Luigi García, unauthorized disclosure of confidential information and a bribery and influence-peddling case tied to the U.S. trial of former comptroller Carlos Pólit.

The detention of Serrano Salgado has also captured the attention of several U.S. House Democrats, who penned a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary Noem on Sept 4 demanding clarification regarding his detention. The lawmakers, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Jesus Garcia, Greg Casar and Summer Lee, asked whether Serrano’s detention was directed or requested by the government of Ecuador, and whether his case was discussed during Noem’s official visit to Ecuador in July.

“We are aware that the Ecuadorian Attorney General has named Mr. Serrano as a person of interest in several ongoing investigations. None of those investigations, however, have resulted in formal charges against Mr. Serrano,” the members of Congress wrote. “We also note that the current Ecuadorian government has been credibly accused of pursuing spurious charges against its political opponents.”

This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM.