In February 2025, Jonathan was arrested during an ICE raid at the home he shared with other Venezuelan migrants. Despite all having legal status, ICE detained the entire group without showing warrants or identifying a specific target. He was transferred between several detention centers in New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
On March 14, Jonathan told a friend he was being deported to Venezuela and expressed relief. But after that, his name disappeared from detainee records, and no flights arrived in Venezuela. Fearing the worst, Yenni began searching and eventually identified Jonathan in leaked photos and videos from CECOT prison in El Salvador, a facility widely condemned for human rights abuses.
Yenni confirmed his name on a leaked list from March 20. Devastated, she insists her nephew is not a criminal but a kind, family-oriented man. She believes his detention and transfer are part of a xenophobic campaign against Venezuelan migrants.
“Why this hatred toward human beings—especially Venezuelans?” she pleads.
Jonathan Miguel Ramírez, is a 30-year-old Venezuelan from Carabobo state where he was raised by his aunt, Yenni Rincón because his mother was disabled.
He arrived in the US in July 2023 and entered legally on the CPB-One app. He then found work as a delivery driver in Brooklyn, NY and received Temporary Protected Status (TPS). He worked hard and was sending money home to his family until was arrested in February 2025 at a residence where he lived with other Venezuelan migrants.
Jonathan was sleeping when ICE came to the house where he and 8 others were renting a room–the owner of the house didn’t even know who ICE was looking for. ICE agents came in around 8 or 9 am and kicked their doors in. They claimed they were there looking for someone, but they never gave a name, never showed any warrant or any documentation of who they were looking for. The 8 men detained all had TPS- they took them in their trucks to a detention center.
“The authorities stormed the place, broke down the doors, and took everyone present who was Venezuelan, including my nephew, Jonathan.” Yenni said. Since then, his family has faced an ordeal trying to locate him and understand his situation.
After his arrest, Jonathan was transferred to various detention centers in the United States, first New York, then Pennsylvania, and Texas. Although he maintained occasional contact with a friend, the calls were expensive and limited.
“He always stayed in touch with a friend there [in the US], who was the one who kept us informed about him instead of calling us in Venezuela, because calls from there to Venezuela was expensive. On Friday the 14th, he told his friend to call us with the news that they were going to deport him here to Venezuela. He was happy because he wanted to come already. He no longer wanted to be in the United States, but then the flight was delayed because of weather” Yenni said.
“On Saturday the 15th, he got in touch with the friend again, because, he said they were sending him to Venezuela, which was a lie. Because since then we haven’t heard anything from him and here in Venezuela no flights from there have arrived,” Yenni added. She also noted that name no longer appeared on the U.S. detainee registration page.
When Jonathan’s friend in the US called his aunt Yenni, she feared that Jonathan was one of the men taken to CECOT prison in El Salvador.
“I told her (Jonathan’s friend) right away, they took him to El Salvador, when I started to see the news about those who had been taken, deported to El Salvador. I was searching, searching in videos, photos, I managed to spot him.”
“I said, that’s my Jonathan, that’s my Gordo (chubby one), that’s him, his body and his face. The only thing I didn’t do for him was give birth. His mom couldn’t raise him, and it fell to me, it fell to me to be there for him since he was young, up until even now, until the age he left, when he decided to emigrate. And really, this was horrible.”
When Yenni saw the leaked list of men who had been sent to CECOT on March 20th, everything was confirmed, “he is on the list, that he is there in El Salvador. And it’s not fair, because he is not a criminal. He is very family oriented; he is very home-loving, he is a good boy.”
“What they are doing is xenophobia towards Venezuelans. Why that anger?
Why that immense, as I would say, that feeling of hatred towards human beings, more directly towards Venezuelans? Why?”
Jonathan Miguel Ramírez, es un venezolano de 30 años del estado de Carabobo donde fue criado por su tía, Yenni Rincón, porque su madre estaba discapacitada.
Llegó a los Estados Unidos en julio de 2023 e ingresó legalmente en la aplicación CPB-One. Luego encontró trabajo como repartidor en Brooklyn, NY y recibió el Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS). Trabajó duro y enviaba dinero a su familia hasta que fue arrestado en febrero de 2025 en una residencia donde vivía con otros migrantes venezolanos.
Jonathan estaba durmiendo cuando ICE llegó a la casa donde él y otras 8 personas alquilaban una habitación, el dueño de la casa ni siquiera sabía a quién buscaba ICE. Los agentes de ICE entraron alrededor de las 8 o 9 de la mañana y derribaron las puertas. Afirmaron que estaban buscando a alguien, pero nunca dieron un nombre, nunca mostraron una orden de arresto o documentación de quién estaban buscando. Los 8 hombres detenidos tenían TPS, los llevaron en sus camiones a un centro de detención.
“Las autoridades irrumpieron en el lugar, derribaron las puertas y se llevaron a todos los presentes que eran venezolanos, incluido mi sobrino, Jonathan”, dijo Yenni. Desde entonces, su familia ha enfrentado una odisea tratando de localizarlo y entender su situación.
Después de su arresto, Jonathan fue trasladado a varios centros de detención en los Estados Unidos, primero en Nueva York, luego en Pensilvania y Texas. Aunque mantenía contacto ocasional con un amigo, las llamadas eran caras y limitadas.
“Siempre se mantuvo en contacto con un amigo allí [en los EE. UU.], quien era el que nos mantenía informados sobre él en lugar de llamarnos en Venezuela, porque las llamadas de allí a Venezuela eran caras. El viernes 14, le dijo a su amigo que nos llamara con la noticia de que lo iban a deportar aquí a Venezuela. Estaba feliz porque quería venir ya. Ya no quería estar en los Estados Unidos, pero luego el vuelo se retrasó debido al clima”, dijo Yenni.
“El sábado 15, se puso en contacto con el amigo nuevamente, porque dijo que lo estaban enviando a Venezuela, lo cual era mentira. Porque desde entonces no hemos sabido nada de él y aquí en Venezuela no han llegado vuelos de allá”, agregó Yenni. También señaló que su nombre ya no aparecía en la página de registro de detenidos de EE. UU.
Cuando el amigo de Jonathan en los EE. UU. llamó a su tía Yenni, ella temió que Jonathan fuera uno de los hombres llevados a la prisión de CECOT en El Salvador.
“Le dije (al amigo de Jonathan) de inmediato, lo llevaron a El Salvador, cuando comencé a ver las noticias sobre los que habían sido llevados, deportados a El Salvador. Estaba buscando, buscando en videos, fotos, logré verlo”.
“Dije, ese es mi Jonathan, ese es mi Gordo, ese es él, su cuerpo y su cara. Lo único que no hice por él fue dar a luz. Su mamá no pudo criarlo, y me tocó a mí, me tocó a mí estar allí para él desde joven, hasta incluso ahora, hasta la edad en que se fue, cuando decidió emigrar. Y realmente, esto fue horrible”.
Cuando Yenni vio la lista filtrada de hombres que habían sido enviados a CECOT el 20 de marzo, todo se confirmó, “está en la lista, que está allí en El Salvador. Y no es justo, porque no es un criminal. Él es muy familiar, muy hogareño, es un buen chico”.
“Lo que están haciendo es xenofobia hacia los venezolanos. ¿Por qué esa ira? ¿Por qué ese inmenso, como diría, ese sentimiento de odio hacia los seres humanos, más directamente hacia los venezolanos? ¿Por qué?”
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