- Venezuelan national detained for 12 months without criminal charges
- Deported to El Salvador’s high-security CECOT facility despite removal order
- ACLU preparing 100+ habeas petitions for similar deportation cases
Attorneys representing Edicson Quintero Chacon have launched a constitutional challenge against what they call an unlawful detention schemefunded by U.S. taxpayers. The Venezuelan carpenter and father of two has been held across four detention facilities since June 2024, culminating in his controversial transfer to El Salvador’s maximum-security CECOT prison complex this March.
Immigration experts highlight three critical irregularities in this case: First, Quintero Chacon’s initial Georgia detention occurred after he voluntarily attended an ICE check-in. Second, his February 2025 habeas filing explicitly stated he sought voluntary departure rather than prolonged custody. Third, the Supreme Court’s recent 5-4 ruling on Venezuelan deportations requires due process protections that attorneys argue were bypassed.
A regional case study emerges from Maryland, where Senator Chris Van Hollen recently intervened in the erroneous deportation of migrant construction worker José Bonilla. Like Quintero Chacon, Bonilla was transferred through multiple facilities before being sent to El Salvador—a pattern advocates call ICE’s shadow extradition pipeline.
Department of Homeland Security records show 142 Venezuelans were deported to Central American nations in Q1 2025 under post-Title 42 protocols. However, legal analysts note that 89% of these individuals had no violent criminal history, raising questions about the enforcement criteria.
Quintero Chacon’s family in Zulia State reports receiving only two brief phone calls since his transfer. They’re treating migrants like wartime prisoners,says human rights attorney Lina Contreras, referencing the Alien Enemies Act cited in recent deportations. This sets a dangerous precedent for conflating immigration status with combatant status.
The ACLU’s planned habeas corpus blitz targets ICE’s use of third-country deportation hubs—a Trump-era policy revived under current administrations. With CECOT prisons reporting 14 detainee deaths in 2024 alone, advocates warn Quintero Chacon’s case could test constitutional limits on offshore detention.