In April 2025, viral posts on social media sites including Facebook, TikTok and X alleged that in February, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained a Venezuelan teenager, Merwil Gutierrez, outside his apartment while having a conversation about how Gutierrez was not the person ICE was hoping to detain.
"No, he's not the one," one ICE agent reportedly said.
"Take him anyway," the other replied.
According to an internal list obtained by CBS News, Gutierrez is now, as of this writing, being held in the Terrorism Containment Center, or CECOT, in El Salvador, alongside 237 other Venezuelan men detained by ICE.
Snopes readers wrote in asking if the story was true — if ICE agents had arrested Gutierrez all the while knowing that he was not the target of the operation.
We couldn't independently confirm the events that led to Gutierrez's detainment — therefore, we have elected not to provide a truth rating on this story.
The claim originated in an April 14 article posted by the nonprofit publication Documented, which reports "with and for immigrant communities in New York City," according to its website. In order to learn more about Gutierrez's arrest, we contacted the journalist who wrote the Documented story. We also wrote to ICE with questions about its arrest process and why Gutierrez was deported to the mega-prison in El Salvador. We have not heard back from either.
The account of Gutierrez's detention was relayed secondhand from Gutierrez's father, Wilmer, who said he received the information from his cousin, Luis. Luis reportedly witnessed the detention from inside the six-bedroom apartment in the Bronx that the three shared with 10 other immigrants, according to the Documented story.
Merwil Gutierrez was detained on Feb. 24, 2025. Wilmer Gutierrez told Documented that earlier in the day, Merwil left to do laundry with his cousin Luis and then "met with a friend to get help with some errands at the American Red Cross." On his way back, just outside the building entrance, ICE agents "grabbed [Merwil] and two other boys." Luis claimed that one of the ICE agents said of Merwil, "No, he's not the one."
"Like they were looking for someone else," Wilmer Gutierrez told Documented. "But the other said, 'Take him anyway.'"
Merwil Gutierrez was not listed in the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. His father said that aside from one phone call on March 14 (a day before he was flown to the prison in El Salvador, according to CBS News), he had not heard from Merwil.
"I feel like my son was kidnapped," the elder Gutierrez told Documented. "I've spent countless hours searching for him, going from one precinct to another, speaking with numerous people who kept referring me elsewhere. Yet, after all this, no one has given me any information or provided a single document about his case."
On May 12, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security released more information on Gutierrez, claiming that he was "an associate/active" member of the Tren de Aragua gang. However, that paperwork did not contain any proof that Gutierrez was involved in gang activity.
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has claimed that all 238 men sent to CECOT were hardened criminals and gang members. Gutierrez's family members told Documented he had no criminal record, was not involved in gang activity and had no tattoos, something that ICE has (wrongly) used to justify the detention of others.
"60 Minutes" checked CBS's list of detainees sent to CECOT against criminal records both in the U.S. and abroad. They could not find criminal records for 179 of the 238 men (75%) sent to the mega-prison.
The DHS release contained new and conflicting information about Gutierrez. The Trump administration claims that, contrary to what his family members said, Gutierrez was arrested by some combination of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the FBI on Feb. 24. (The DHS news release claimed it was a joint arrest, but the document suggested only NYPD was involved).
Officials hit Gutierrez with four gun charges — gun possession, possession of stolen property, an ammunition charge and possessing a gun on school property. According to the nonprofit newsroom The City, there was a church with a prekindergarten program across the street from where Gutierrez was arrested. It was closed at the time of his arrest.
According to the DHS document, within one day of his arrest, the FBI opened an investigation into Gutierrez for "ongoing criminal activity" (again, Gutierrez had no criminal charges until the day he was arrested), "contacted New York City Enforcement and Removal Operations Officers" about Gutierrez, transferred him to ICE custody and "concluded" their investigation.