Freddy Antonio Tellez Lopez thought he did things the right way.
Lopez fled his home country of Nicaragua in 2019. He feared persecution from the country鈥檚 authoritarian regime as an openly gay man and as a supporter of government dissidents.
Two years later, he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, applied for asylum in the United States and settled in Florida, while waiting for his case to play out. Lopez worked as a waiter for years and eventually saved enough cash to purchase a home.
He created a life for himself in the U.S. and set down roots.
Yet, in October 2025, the 42-year-old with a clean criminal record went to a scheduled asylum appointment in Miami and found himself in handcuffs 鈥� detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
鈥淚 never thought they were going to detain me,鈥� Lopez said, in Spanish. 鈥淚鈥檝e never committed a crime. I鈥檝e been working in this country for almost five years. I don鈥檛 even have a single traffic ticket.鈥�
READ MORE: Former Alligator Alcatraz detainee: 鈥楶rison was better than that place鈥�
Lopez鈥檚 experience, recounted to SA国际传谋 and verified through documents and additional reporting, is reflective of tens of thousands of arrested during the Trump administration鈥檚 massive immigration crackdown.
Non-citizens like Lopez are not only being arrested en masse, but also detained for months with no end in sight 鈥� thanks to the Trump administration鈥檚 legal policy barring them from receiving a bond.
Bond agreements allow people to be released from detention while their court cases are ongoing. Under , mandatory detention was common for immigrants who just arrived at the southern border, and uncommon for those already living in the U.S. who did not have criminal records and/or were not a flight risk.
鈥淚 never thought they were going to detain me. I鈥檝e never committed a crime. I鈥檝e been working in this country for almost five years. I don鈥檛 even have a single traffic ticket.鈥�Freddy Lopez
That changed last July, when revealed acting ICE director Todd Lyons directed that all immigrants who crossed the border illegally would be kept detained until their cases were resolved. The policy is still being litigated, but a federal appeals court of the Trump administration鈥檚 policy.
鈥淏eing in detention is a choice,鈥� a spokesperson for ICE said in a statement to SA国际传谋. They encouraged undocumented immigrants to self-deport by receiving free flights and cash bonuses.
鈥淲e encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream,鈥� the spokesperson wrote. 鈥淚f not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.鈥�
But to Magdalena Cuprys, one of Lopez鈥檚 immigration attorneys, ICE鈥檚 stance makes no sense.
鈥淭his whole policy right now is: 鈥榳e want immigrants to do this the right way,鈥欌�� Cuprys said. 鈥淲ell, he did everything the right way.鈥�
Fleeing Nicaragua
In San Lorenzo, Nicaragua, Lopez ran a restaurant, called El Taurete (鈥淭he Stool鈥� in Spanish). It was shut down by the Sandinista government, Lopez said, because he supported protestors with food and water during a demonstration.
He said the harassment culminated with police in his hometown obtaining a warrant for his arrest.
The Murillo-Ortega dictatorship has been accused of repressing the Nicaraguan people 鈥� As recently as February, the U.S. State Department for persecuting Catholic clergy and other abuses.
Lopez feared the retaliation would be worse if the Sandinista government found out he was gay and Catholic.
鈥淭hey have jailed all the candidates of the opposition that were running for the presidency of Nicaragua,鈥� Lopez wrote in his asylum application. 鈥淲hat would they do to me, a simple citizen?鈥�
So, he fled. Traveling through Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, he finally crossed into the U.S. in April 2021. Nobody stopped him at the border in Arizona 鈥� a time when illegal border crossings . He made his way to North Florida and went to live with a family friend.
Lopez applied for asylum in the U.S., a for people fleeing persecution.
He spent years working at a restaurant in Jefferson County, paid taxes and even purchased a home. During his time living in Florida, Lopez was never arrested or charged with a crime, according to court records.
That all changed in October 2025, when ICE detained him at his scheduled asylum appointment in Miami.
鈥溾�奣hey scheduled him for an interview to discuss his asylum, and that's when he was detained,鈥� Cuprys, the attorney, said. 鈥淚nstead of conducting the interview, they arrested him.鈥�
Detention
Lopez spent roughly two weeks in Alligator Alcatraz, the detention center in the remote Everglades currently under investigation by two U.S. senators .
鈥淚n Alcatraz, everything was awful,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey tie your hands and feet to get your medicine. They don鈥檛 let you sleep. You can only bathe twice a week.鈥�
He compared being there to a 鈥渘atural disaster.鈥�
Lopez was then transferred to Broward Transitional Center, a privately-run immigrant detention center in Broward County, where he spent the next five months.
The facility is operated by private prison contractor .
Like many ICE detention facilities, it has seen increased volume in people since President Trump鈥檚 second term began. Calls for emergency services to the facility doubled in the first six months of last year, according to news reports. In April 2025, a Haitian woman detained by ICE died at the facility during a medical emergency.
In November 2025, while detained at BTC, Lopez said a guard sexually assaulted him.
鈥淎 guard, a man鈥� When the lights went out he went right to my bed and I screamed,鈥� he told SA国际传谋. 鈥淚 went crazy and couldn't sleep after that, so they sent me to a psychiatrist.鈥�
A guard went into Lopez鈥檚 cell while he was sleeping, touched Lopez鈥檚 shoulder and touched his own groin, according to Lopez鈥檚 complaint, detailed in a Broward Sheriff鈥檚 Office report.
In an emailed statement to SA国际传谋, an ICE spokesperson wrote that 鈥淭ellez-Lopez鈥檚 sexual assault accusations were determined to be FALSE after an investigation by (BSO).鈥�
Lopez couldn鈥檛 identify the guard and his roommate told investigators he didn鈥檛 witness it. Surveillance footage 鈥測ielded negative results鈥� and 鈥渄idn鈥檛 corroborate鈥� Lopez鈥檚 complaint, a BSO investigator wrote. As a result, the agency said it did not have evidence to investigate further and deemed the allegation 鈥渦nfounded.鈥�
GEO Group did not respond to specific questions about Lopez鈥檚 complaint.
鈥淕EO mandates zero tolerance towards all forms of sexual abuse and sexual harassment in all its facilities,鈥� a spokesperson said.
Habeas corpus
As the Trump administration鈥檚 enforcement increased dramatically, immigration detentions spiked and so have habeas corpus petitions.
The requests 鈥� a bedrock legal right for a judge to review a detention 鈥� are one of the last legal avenues available to immigrants seeking freedom from detention.
Since January 2025, there have been approximately 34,500 requests filed, which is more than the last three presidential administrations combined, according to a
Lopez鈥檚 request was one of more than 1,000 that originated from the U.S. Southern District of Florida, which includes nine counties from the Florida Keys to Vero Beach.
In December 2025, an immigration judge denied Lopez鈥檚 request for bond under the Trump Administration鈥檚 legal interpretation that immigrants who entered the country illegally were ineligible.
鈥淏ecause the law requires the detention of all applicants for admission, this Court does not have jurisdiction to review (Lopez鈥檚 bond request),鈥� U.S. Immigration Judge , in Miami, ruled.
Cuprys and another attorney filed a habeas petition in Fort Lauderdale federal court, where a federal court judge ruled in February that ICE must give Lopez a bond hearing or let him go.
He got his hearing on March 3. Bond was allowed and 鈥� after putting up a full $15,000 鈥� Lopez was freed.
Lopez鈥檚 other attorney, Matthew Meyers, said that his client鈥檚 homeownership helped.
鈥溾�奣here's no better way to show that I'm establishing my home here and I'm going to live here,鈥� Meyers said. 鈥淏onds are not supposed to be punitive. They're supposed to make sure that the person shows up in court.鈥�
Lopez went back to North Florida and back to work. His attorneys are working on his asylum appeal.
The ordeal was difficult for Lopez to relive. At one point in his interview with SA国际传谋, he became overwhelmed with emotion.
鈥淧eople should know that the law is supposed to punish criminals, not innocent immigrants who鈥檝e never committed a crime,鈥� he said through tears. 鈥淲ho came to work and overcome what happened in their home country.鈥�
