Houston Judge Orders Government to Track Down Deported Refugee

The United States government has asked a federal judge in Houston for additional time to locate Widmer Agelviz-Sanguino, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man allegedly deported after being misidentified as a gang member due to his tattoos.

The request came Tuesday, just one day after the judge ordered immigration authorities to find Agelviz-Sanguino, who has not been heard since mid-March.

Agelviz-Sanguino arrived in Houston last fall with his family as part of the refugee resettlement program, having completed a thorough vetting process. However, upon arrival at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers flagged him for tattoos they claimed resembled those of Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang.

His attorney, Javier Rivera, says the tattoos are entirely benign: a rose garden symbolizing time spent with his grandmother, an owl that once visited his window, and a clock reflecting childhood memories. Rivera insists that Agelviz-Sanguino was targeted based solely on visual assumptions and denied his rights under U.S. immigration law.

According to documents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he was denied entry due to alleged gang affiliation. Yet, no concrete evidence has been provided to support this claim, and Rivera says neither the family nor the legal team has received confirmation that Agelviz-Sanguino was actually deported.

A May 9 lawsuit against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem alleges that his removal violated due process and bypassed the immigration court system entirely. Rivera says the only indication of deportation came from a CBS article referencing a deportation manifest to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison, CECOT.

“The family has not heard a word from him,” Rivera said. “There’s been no proof he’s in El Salvador, only a news article suggesting so.”

The Department of Justice declined to comment.