Cuban Migrant Arrested While Taking Trash Out Says He'd Rather Be Deported Than Continue at Detention Facility

On March 20, Cuban national Eduardo Nuñez Gonzalez, a resident of North Miami, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while taking out the trash at his home. Less than three weeks later he told his wife that he would prefer deportation over enduring the deplorable conditions at the New Mexico facility he is currently held in.

After spending three days at the Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade County, Nuñez Gonzalez was transferred to the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach and then to the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico.

According to Gonzalez's wife Vilma Perez Delgado, who spoke to the Miami Herald, the man was never notified of any moves, was not read his rights and agents did not tell him what the charges against him were.

Delgado added that, during his transfer to New Mexico, authorities placed her husband in handcuffs, shackled his feet and chained his waist. Life at the Torrance County Detention Facility, she added, has been a nightmare.

Nuñez Delgado remains permanently restrained at the facility, with a chain around his waist. He is also isolated and cannot receive any visitors. Perez Delgado says her husband is suffering from chronic bronchitis and is not receiving any medical attention.

Additionally, Nuñez Gonzales told his wife that he does not know what time of day it is as he has not been allowed to leave his cell.

The Torrance detention facility has been under scrutiny in recent months, receiving complaints of inhumane treatment, unfair asylum proceedings, abuse by guards, bug-infested and rotting food, dirty drinking water, lack of sunlight and fresh air and of inadequate medical care.

Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote a letter to then-chief of staff for ICE Michael D. Lumpkin urging the agency to end its contract with the New Mexico facility.

"ICE should terminate its detention contract at Torrance due to well-documented dangerous conditions, persistent understaffing, and chronic violations of federal detention standards," the ACLU wrote in the letter.

The correctional center is a private prison contracted by ICE and owned and operated by CoreCivic, which also owns two other prisons in New Mexico, including the Cibola County Correctional Center which has also received complaints of inhumane treatment and abuse by staff by people who are awaiting for a resolution to their asylum requests.

Perez Delgado said her husband doesn't have a criminal history. In a statement, ICE told the Miami Herald that he had "legally entered the country Nov. 14, 2014, and failed to comply with the terms of his admission."

The couple arrived to the U.S. in 2015 and applied for a green card. Despite filling the paperwork at the same time, Perez Delgado's application was approved and went on to become a U.S. citizen in January 2025, while Nuñez Gonzalez's was denied in 2022.

Counting with a Spanish passport, Perez Delgado said they officially requested the husband's deportation to Spain but said they are unsure how long that process will take.

"We officially asked for him to be transferred to Spain," Perez Delgado said. "He officially requested it through the tablet."

According to Rebeca Sanchez-Roig, a senior managing attorney with Catholic Legal Services in Miami, detainees can choose to leave the U.S. whenever they want, but for those in immigration detention or formal removal proceedings such as Nuñez Gonzalez, detainees need an official order from an immigration judge before being deported.

However, according to an ICE statement, Nuñez Gonzalez is "subject to a final order of removal," adding that he will remain in ICE custody "pending his removal from the country."