‘He’s gone’: Attorney ‘shocked’ after Trump admin ‘disappeared’ delivery worker
A respected immigration attorney expressed his shock and dismay on social media over the fate of a Venezuelan immigrant who disappeared after accidentally crossing into Canada and being detained by U.S. authorities.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, wrote Tuesday, "This story from today is SHOCKING. The United States has disappeared a man. His last known whereabouts on March 15 was in the same place as others sent to El Salvador, but his name doesn't appear on the leaked list of people sent there. He is, for all intents and purposes, gone."
The story Reichlin-Melnick referred to was written by Miriam Jordan, national immigration correspondent for The New York Times.
Jordan wrote about Ricardo Prada Vásquez, who was working a delivery job in Detroit.
He was heading to the address to drop off a McDonald's order "when he erroneously turned onto the Ambassador Bridge, which leads to Canada. It is a common mistake even for those who live in the Michigan border city. But for Mr. Prada, 32, it proved fateful," she wrote.
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U.S. authorities took Prada into custody when he tried to re-enter the country, and he was ordered deported," Jordan wrote.
"That evening, the Trump administration flew three planes carrying Venezuelan migrants from the Texas facility to El Salvador, where they have been ever since, locked up in a maximum-security prison and denied contact with the outside world."
According to Jordan, Prada has not been heard from or seen since.
"He is not on the list of 238 people who were deported to El Salvador that day. He does not appear in the photos and videos released by the authorities of shackled men with shaved heads."
Jordan quoted a friend of Prada's saying, "He has simply disappeared."
"Mr. Prada’s disappearance has created concerns that more immigrants have been deported to El Salvador than previously known," Jordan wrote. "It also raises the question of whether some deportees may have been sent to other countries with no record of it. The U.S. authorities have confirmed that he was removed from the United States. But to where?"
‘Remarkable scene’: CNN reporter taken aback as MAGA lawmaker booed in ruby red district
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) held an event in Estero, Florida, on Monday, where residents of his district expressed their anger over drastic cuts to government agencies that many count on for services.
When he came into office, President Donald Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency by executive order and tasked tech billionaire Elon Musk with finding things to cut. That initiative has been behind the upheaval and dismantling of government agencies. Websites, grants, programs, and employees have been cut or frozen under the promise that Trump will save taxpayers trillions.
Speaking to CNN's Boris Sanchez on Tuesday, chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju called it a "pretty remarkable scene" that Donalds responded to angry constituents by yelling at them.
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"I mean, the question is, how broad is this among the electorate?" he questioned. "We've seen this happen time and time again. Are these Democratic voters who are coming out there expressing their outrage, and probably in a lot of cases, yes. Are there independent voters who are moved by what Donald Trump has been doing, what DOGE has been doing, impacts on their lives, on the tariffs and prices? Are those the ones that are raising concerns? Or are they Trump voters? Are they people who are concerned about the person they voted for into office here?"
He also noted that Donalds' district is in "a very conservative area." He recalled that in 2024, Trump carried the district by 30 points.
"Even that county, where that town hall was in yesterday, Trump won that by 30 points," cited Raju. "So, this is a conservative area. What does it say for the broader electorate? We'll see. But it was interesting."
He pointed to another moment in which Donalds was asked about Musk and others gaining access to personal Social Security files. When he read the question aloud, the crowd cheered.
Donalds answered that Musk and DOGE "have been authorized by the president of the United States."
The crowd booed loudly.
See the clip below or at the link here.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
