Carlos Roberto García, 42, the former mayor of Mérida, Venezuela, now living in Butler County, Ohio, and working as an Amazon delivery driver, was detained by federal agents on January 23 during what his wife described as a routine immigration check-in. García fled Venezuela in 2017 after refusing government orders to suppress anti-Maduro protests and being removed from office and sentenced to prison by the Chavista-controlled Supreme Court; he later crossed into Texas with his family in 2022, applied for asylum, and received Temporary Protected Status along with a work permit valid through 2030. His wife, Gaby Duarte, said he has no criminal record and fears torture if returned to Venezuela, where an outstanding arrest order remains against him. His attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition seeking his release from Butler County Jail, but a February 10 hearing revealed the Department of Homeland Security is instead seeking to deport him to Ecuador, a country where his wife says he has no family, home, or support network. Duarte said, 'We are simply asking that he be allowed to defend his case where he formally requested asylum.'