Carlos Hugo Betancur, originally from Colombia, was on his way to work and, like any other Doral resident, went to the Marathon gas station on NW 58th Street. At noon on July 8, 2026, he was detained by ICE.
His daughter, Maria Alejandra Betancur, says her father has a pending asylum application and is pleading for his release.
Maria received a call from her father informing her that ICE agents were questioning him about his immigration status, but the call was cut off when the agent took the phone. Before the call was disconnected, she heard her father say that he was being taken to the ICE processing center in Miramar, and she was able to ask, “Why are you detaining my dad?” The agent didn’t answer,” Maria said. “I asked again and again, and he just said, ‘He’s here illegally. He doesn’t have any papers.'” She responded that he does have an asylum case pending.
In interviews with the press, she provided documents that, according to her, prove her father applied for political asylum after arriving in the United States on February 16, 2022. According to the documentation, the asylum application was filed in January 2023.
She also provided copies of his employment authorization card and Florida driver’s license, and stated she did not understand why her father was detained while apparently making a routine gas stop before going to work.
Doral City Councilwoman Maureen Porras, who is also an immigration attorney, expressed her concern: “It is very concerning that ICE is in our community detaining hardworking, law-abiding citizens.”
Porras also indicated that many people have been detained despite having pending asylum applications or other forms of immigration relief or protection that have already been processed.
ICE stated in a press release that a Colombian man overstayed his visa and is being detained for being in the United States illegally, violating U.S. immigration law.
Carlos Hugo Betancur was arrested on July 7 by ICE agents for being in the United States illegally and will remain in custody pending his hearing before an immigration judge.
