Rubio signed memo citing Colombian activist's criticism of Trump-backed candidate as deportation grounds; ICE arrested him same day

On June 16, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a memorandum invoking a rarely-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that lets the Secretary of State personally determine that a noncitizen's presence in the U.S. is harmful to American foreign policy. The memo, obtained by The New York Times, stated that Colombian activist Franklin Humberto "Beto" Coral Garrido "has used his presence in the United States to conduct political activity in support of the Petro government" and had campaigned against Abelardo De La Espriella, a right-wing Colombian presidential candidate endorsed by President Trump. Allowing Coral to remain, Rubio wrote, "undermines U.S. foreign policy interests in Colombia's democratic processes." Homeland Security Investigations agents intercepted Coral the same day at his Phoenix home as he returned with his 12-year-old son, handcuffing him without presenting a warrant, and canceled a work permit a federal judge had granted him pending his asylum application.

Coral, who arrived in the U.S. in 2015 on a tourist visa and filed for asylum in 2016 citing threats tied to his political activism and his investigation into his police-officer father's unsolved murder, had a pending asylum claim at the time of his arrest. DHS separately said Coral had overstayed his original six-month visa by ten years and would remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. Kerry Doyle, a former senior ICE attorney, said the case fit a pattern of Rubio using his Secretary of State authority to target immigrants over speech, comparing it to his earlier memo against Columbia University's Mahmoud Khalil; The New York Times reported it was the first such memo tied to a foreign election.

Updates

2026-06-23 — Nine House Democrats demanded Coral's release, called treatment "inhumane" [6, 7]

Nine Democratic members of the U.S. House — including Reps. James McGovern, Joaquín Castro, Adelita Grijalva, Nydia Velázquez, Lloyd Doggett, Delia Ramírez, Ilhan Omar, Hank Johnson, and Rashida Tlaib — sent a letter to Rubio and DHS Secretary Mullin demanding Coral's immediate release, describing accounts of physical mistreatment and prolonged deprivation of food and water in detention as cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

2026-06-24 — Coral said he was denied lawyer access for days, pressured to self-deport [8]

In an interview from a Louisiana detention facility, Coral said he had been moved between six different facilities, gone days without being able to reach a lawyer, been deprived of his documents, and faced pressure from immigration officials to sign voluntary self-deportation papers.

2026-06-29 — Coral wrote from detention that he was beaten and held in solitary confinement [9, 10]

In a letter from detention, Coral said he was beaten in his first days in custody and had been held in an isolation cell for six days as an unexplained punishment, describing being denied potable water and sunlight and handcuffed during showers, and disputing a facility record classifying him as a self-harm risk.

2026-06-30 — Petro called Coral a "political prisoner," demanded his release [5]

While Coral remained in ICE custody, Colombian President Gustavo Petro called him a "political prisoner" and asked international governments and human-rights organizations to help secure his release; U.S. immigration authorities maintained the case was a routine immigration-status matter.

2026-07-16 — Coral deported to Colombia after roughly a month in ICE custody [4]

After being transferred between detention facilities in Texas and Louisiana, Coral was deported to Colombia, about a month after his arrest.

2026-07-28 — Coral described beatings, solitary confinement in Bogotá interview [3]

In an interview from Bogotá, Coral said he was beaten, denied food and water, and held in solitary confinement during his detention.