Brazilian Detainee Speaks Out for the First Time After ICE Arrest, Describing Fear and Isolation Inside California Facility

Image: Exterior of the Adelanto ICE Detention Facility (California)

For the first time since his arrest, Brazilian national Alex Pereira Alves has spoken publicly about what he is experiencing inside an ICE detention center in California. In an interview with a U.S. television network, he described the emotional toll of being held for weeks and the fear surrounding his uncertain future.

During a video call from the Adelanto Detention Center, Alex said he feels completely cut off from the outside world and overwhelmed by the possibility of being deported. “I feel trapped,” he told the network, explaining that he has no access to daily life beyond the facility and lives in constant anxiety about what may happen next.

Alex has been detained for more than a month. His deportation is currently suspended by a federal judge while his attorney fights to prevent him from being sent to Equatorial Guinea, a country with which he has no connection, does not speak the language, and where he would have no support network. According to his legal team, deporting an immigrant under these conditions would be dangerous and improper, especially since ICE did not conduct a full risk assessment before attempting to remove him.

He was taken into custody on August 11 during what he believed would be a routine check‑in at an ICE office in downtown Los Angeles. Alex says an officer told him that “under the current administration,” he could be deported. When he asked whether he could simply buy a ticket and return voluntarily to Brazil, he was told that was not an option. Minutes later, he was handcuffed and detained.

Alex has lived legally in the United States since 2018 under a protection known as withholding of removal, a status granted when a judge determines that returning someone to their home country would put them at risk. That protection now places him in a legal limbo: he cannot be deported to Brazil, but he also refuses to be sent to a third country.

Friends have been covering legal expenses that already total thousands of dollars. His attorney says the immigration system is overloaded and changing daily, making the case even more unpredictable. For now, Alex remains in detention, waiting for a federal ruling that will determine his fate.