Juan B.: Nicaraguan former political prisoner stripped of nationality deported to Honduras by ICE
Juan Barilla, 35, a Nicaraguan farmer and former political prisoner resettled in Louisiana, was taken into ICE custody after a DUI arrest. He was deported to Honduras in November 2025 and now fears retaliation from Nicaragua's government.
Dec 1, 2025Country of origin: Nicaragua
Juan Barilla, 35, a peasant farmer from San Miguelito in Nicaragua's Río San Juan department, spent 29 months imprisoned after being kidnapped by paramilitaries in 2020, and was among 222 political prisoners the Ortega-Murillo government expelled to the United States in February 2023, stripping him of his nationality. He resettled in Louisiana with humanitarian parole and a work permit, but was arrested by local police on April 5, 2025 for driving under the influence; even after a judge ordered his release following his 112-day sentence, he was held because of an ICE appointment, and ICE took him into custody in July 2025. Representing himself without a lawyer through several immigration court hearings on his pending asylum case, he said he was never allowed to present notarized evidence of his imprisonment and torture in Nicaragua. In October 2025, prosecutors sought protection for him under the Convention Against Torture with removal to Honduras rather than asylum, and he was deported there on November 29, 2025, describing being shackled at the hands, feet and waist 'like a criminal.' He is now under temporary UNHCR protection in Honduras and says he fears transnational retaliation from the Nicaraguan regime.
“Un día menos pensado, cuando estaba en la celda, los del centro de detención llegaron y me llamaron por mi nombre y me dijeron: alístate que te van a remover. Me sacaron, llevaron al aeropuerto Alejandría en Luisiana. Iba encadenado de pies, mano y cintura, como un criminal (...) Eso fue una tortura, un calvario”
“No te golpean como en Nicaragua, pero te quiebran psicológicamente”
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Sources
- US: Victims of Nicaraguan Government Risk Deportation
Human Rights Watch·Oct 2, 2026·archived copy
- Deportan a Honduras a Juan Barillla, uno de los 222 opositores desterrados por Ortega
El Heraldo·Dec 22, 2025·archived copy
- Expreso político nicaragüense de los 222 relata su deportación a Honduras tras proceso con ICE
100 Noticias·Dec 23, 2025
- La Prensa
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