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Colombian man with CAT protection shackled, deported to Congo, later returns home

Apr 21, 2026

Country of origin: Colombia

Colombian man with CAT protection shackled, deported to Congo, later returns home
Photo via Univision

Carlos Rodelo, a 43-year-old from Barranquilla, Colombia, fled his home country after being repeatedly extorted and entered the U.S. through the Mexican border, where a federal judge granted him protection under the Convention Against Torture, barring his return to Colombia but not to a third country. Detained since August, Rodelo was held at the Alexandria, Louisiana airport and shackled without food by ICE agents despite his objections and a pending habeas corpus challenge, then flown via Dakar and Accra to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a Trump Administration third-country deportation agreement covering the first group of 15 Latin Americans. Rodelo, who has diabetes and other medical conditions, described feeling like a prisoner in Congo despite being told he was free, and stayed in a Kinshasa hotel hoping to be repatriated. The Department of Homeland Security asserted he had violated the terms of his parole. Rodelo later returned to Colombia through the International Organization for Migration's Assisted Voluntary Return program.

Timeline

Apr 21, 2026—Reported staying in a Kinshasa hotel hoping to be repatriated to Colombia
Apr 13, 2026—Detained and shackled without food at Alexandria, Louisiana airport, then deported to DR Congo despite CAT protection
Apr 13, 2026—Returned to Colombia via the IOM Assisted Voluntary Return program
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