Little has changed since Documented published Wilmer Gutiérrez’s account of his son Merwil Gutiérrez, a 19-year-old who was apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside his Bronx home two months ago and allegedly transferred — along with 237 other Venezuelans — to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
Although national and international media have reported on the case, Wilmer says ICE has yet to provide him any updates on his son Merwil’s whereabouts.
“I’m grateful that my son’s situation has gained attention and that many people — even members of Congress — have reached out to help,” said Wilmer in Spanish, speaking from a coffee shop near his apartment in the Bronx. “But we still haven’t heard anything. I won’t stop searching for him. At the very least, I just want to know if he’s okay.”
Merwil’s detention case was not only striking for the fact that Merwil had no criminal record or tattoos, but because, according to his cousin’s testimony, ICE wasn’t even looking for him.
His 21-year-old cousin, Luis Acosta, witnessed the arrest from his window on February 24.
“I started staring out the window when I heard the sound of police sirens. I saw Merwil approaching the building just as about ten officers got out of their vehicles and began questioning him and a few others outside. One of the ICE agents asked if anyone was named Ángel — they said they were looking for someone with that name. Merwil replied that he wasn’t and gave them his full name. Although one of the officers said he wasn’t the person they were looking for, another insisted they take him anyway. He grabbed Merwil by the arm and put him in the car.”
Speaking to Documented in Spanish, Acosta said he came to the United States with Wilmer and Merwil on June 21, 2023. He has a pending asylum case for TPS and a work permit that allows him to work as a delivery driver.
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But since witnessing his cousin’s detention, he no longer lives in the Bronx apartment. “If they took him, they could take me too,” he said. “Now I move from place to place and avoid staying in one spot for too long. I can’t afford to be found.” The experience has pushed him to consider returning to his home country, Venezuela, and he says he has plans to leave the country by December.
“I don’t want to keep living in fear,” he said.
There’s a similar ambiance in the Bronx neighborhood where Merwil was taken. Neighbors told Documented that daily life has changed — people walk faster, talk less, and constantly look over their shoulders.
Vicente Vintimilla, 54, who sells Crocs shoes on Fordham Avenue, recalls hearing “some rumors” but says no one was certain ICE had been in the area lately. Now, he, too, is afraid. Originally from Ecuador, he’s lived in the U.S. for over a decade. “This puts us in a really uncomfortable, stressful situation,” he says. “The fact that this is happening here, to our neighbors, means the whole community is at risk.”
From a building on University Avenue, a neighbor rushes out to work. He wasn’t home the day ICE agents detained Merwil. Now, he says, many people live in silence and fear, worried they’ll be next. “There are days when we peek through the windows, make sure no one’s outside, and warn each other if something feels off.” According to him, sometimes, agents have arrived dressed in normal clothes without any visible identification that they are ICE agents or police officers. “The mere fact of being Venezuelan is enough to feel constantly at risk,” he says.
As previously reported, William Parra, an immigration attorney with the U.S.-based law firm Inmigración Al Día, which is representing Merwil Gutiérrez, has described Merwil’s Detention as unjustified. Parra explained that Merwil had a pending immigration court case alongside his father, had been attending his hearings, and fully complied with legal requirements.
“Merwil was […] simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Parra said. “ICE wasn’t looking for him, and there’s no evidence at all that he’s involved in any gang.”
At the time, Parra noted that ICE claimed Merwil was being held in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. According to his father Wilmer, he was first sent to Pennsylvania, then to Texas and later to El Salvador. However, neither the family nor the firm has been able to verify his whereabouts through the official detainee locator system.
In parallel with Inmigración Al Día’s efforts, the Gutiérrez family is also working with a Venezuelan legal office called Angostura. The firm is currently preparing a power of attorney to allow lawyers in Merwil’s home country to represent him and begin formally building his defense abroad.
However, as of today, Parra says there are still no updates on the Venezuelan teenager’s case. “I’m working to see if I can connect with a U.S. representative or senator who might be willing to look into this,” he said. “Nothing concrete yet, but I’m exploring every possible avenue to try and bring Merwil back.”
