‘I miss my home’: 21-year-old writes letter on deportation to Honduras from Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Around 100 anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters rallied outside of Richmond City Hall on Monday, August 11. Their message is clear: they want ICE out of Richmond.

A detailed letter obtained by the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality, and read at the rally, provided more insight on the arrest of Ricardo Martinez-Cantarero, the 21-year-old taken by ICE on July 30. He has been deported to his home country of Honduras.  

Testimony from Ricardo Martinez-Cantarero.

Martinez-Cantarero wrote that the morning of July 30 started like any other, with his mother preparing his breakfast and lunch before he went to work at the Facebook construction site in eastern Henrico County. 

He said it wasn't unusual for police to patrol the neighborhood, but it was an unmarked car that pulled him over as he headed to work.

“I stopped the car thinking this was a traffic stop," he wrote. "When the two officials came out of the car I realized they were actually ICE agents and honestly at that moment I felt like the weight of the world was on top of me.” 

He said he believes the officers turned off their body cameras as they approached him. He said he asked if the officers had a warrant but they didn’t present one. He said he then tried to show his drivers license and called his mom. He said one of the officers then went around the car and punched and broke the passenger window.

Martinez-Cantarero said once he got out of the car, the officers "shoved me around, holding me in ways that hurt me.” They told him he “didn’t have a right to call [his] mom” and that’s why they broke the window.

During a press conference with family members and politicians the day after his arrest, Martinez-Cantarero's mother said that her son had been leaving for work around 5:45 a.m. When he didn’t arrive, his boss called her around 7:00 a.m. She then contacted the police for her missing son, unaware he had been apprehended by ICE.

His mother said he'd come to the United States at 16 years old seeking asylum. She believes the arrest may have been linked to a missed court date for an asylum hearing that he was unaware of.

Martinez-Cantarero was taken to the ICE office in Midlothian and was put in a cell with “19 other workers that they had arrested that day.” Hours later they were taken to the Riverside Regional Jail 

He wrote that in the cell there was a man he estimated to be around 40 years old who said he had diabetes and was begging the officers to give him his insulin that he had with him. Martinez-Cantarero wrote that the man was not given the insulin, and when he stood up hours later, he had a seizure. 

“He hit the back of his head and blood began pouring out," Martinez-Cantarero said.

Martinez-Cantarero said the next day they were taken from Riverside back to the Midlothian facility. They each had a turn to talk to an ICE employee which is when he was told he’d be deported. He said he was asked to sign documents and have his fingerprints taken to begin the deportation process. He refused both, saying his life would be in danger if sent back to Honduras. 

“Two officers came, grabbed me, and physically forced me to put my fingerprints on the document anyway," Martinez-Cantarero said.  

Martinez-Cantarero said the men were then moved to the Caroline Detention Facility, shackled at the feet, hands and hips. 

“I felt so much shame to be treated this way," he wrote. "It’s hard to go through the city where you grew up in such condition.” 

Once booking was completed in Caroline, Martinez-Cantarero said the men were taken to the cells and the officers yelled out “fresh meat.” They spent one night there.

They were then taken back to Midlothian again. 

“It makes sense why my family couldn’t find me," Martinez-Cantarero said. "I was moved around so much in that matter of three days.” 

They were then taken to the Richmond International Airport to the back where the private planes are, Martinez-Cantarero wrote. 

Still shackled, Martinez-Cantarero said they were put on a plane that was headed to Houston, Texas. Some people were dropped off there -- he believes people from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatamala -- while those from Honduras were left on the plane where they then headed to a military base in Louisiana.

Martinez-Cantarero wrote that they stayed the night there and then early in the morning on Saturday, August 2, they got back on the plane that made another stop in Houston to pick up more people. He was then taken back to Honduras, seven hours away from the town he was born in.

"If it wasn’t for the program in place by the government of Honduras to support people who are deported, I would’ve been stranded," he wrote. "Now that I am in Honduras, I don’t go outside.  I feel alone and afraid. Just a few days ago, a 17 year old boy was killed. I don’t feel safe. I miss my mom and little brother. I miss my home.” 

Martinez-Cantarero said the 19 other men he was deported with were all detained on their way to work.

“All we want to do when we migrate is to work hard and to find stability to be with our families," he said.

At the rally, the Virginia Defenders demanded an end to local collaboration with ICE, protecting the community from invasive surveillance and alleged brutal policing by ice, providing legal support for immigrants and financial support for their families, closing detention centers, banning masked and unidentified policing from ICE officers and calls for an end to government contracts with Flock surveillance cameras. 

We’ve reported on at least 16 ICE detainments at the Chesterfield County Courthouse since July.

8News has reached out to ICE for a response to the protest and are waiting to hear back.