School custodian detained at ICE check-in, coerced into self-deportation, separated from family
Jun 2, 2026·Location: Monroe, LA
Country of origin: Nicaragua

Boanerges Flores-Bravo, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker who entered the U.S. in 2022 with his wife and 8-year-old daughter, was detained on May 18, 2026, during a scheduled immigration check-in appointment despite being told he would not be arrested. He was transferred from a Missouri detention center to Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana. According to Rep. Wesley Bell, Flores-Bravo was coerced into signing voluntary self-deportation paperwork under threat that his family would be detained if he refused. Flores-Bravo was deported to Nicaragua in June 2026. His wife was released with an ankle monitor and later signed up for voluntary departure, scheduled to leave the country in summer 2026 with their daughter.
Timeline
Sources
- Missouri Congressman visits Richwood Correctional Center after man was “taken” by ICE
KALB·Jun 3, 2026·archived copy
KNOE·Jun 3, 2026·archived copy
- Maplewood-Richmond Heights school janitor deported despite community outcry
stlpr.org·Jun 5, 2026·archived copy
- ‘He was following the rules’: Rep. Bell visits Louisiana detention facility where St. Louis man is detained
firstalert4.com·Jun 1, 2026·archived copy
- Bell travels to Louisiana, meets Nicararaguan immigrant facing deportation
- fox2now.com
- St. Louis man deported despite efforts to keep him in the country by Rep. Wesley Bell
firstalert4.com·Jun 4, 2026·archived copy
- fox2now.com
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