Trending claims

After his 2025 arrest in Florida, José Serrano was charged in Ecuador with masterminding the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio.

Ecuadorean prosecutors built a criminal case against José Serrano, accusing him of planning the 2023 assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Judge Romy Lerner found José Serrano ineligible for asylum because he committed a 'serious nonpolitical crime'.

Fernando Villavicencio was a journalist who helped expose a bribery scandal that led to the conviction of former President Rafael Correa.

The Trump administration reduced the size of the Board of Immigration Appeals from 28 to 15 members and removed Biden-era appointees.

All three judges in José Serrano's case previously worked for the Homeland Security Department.

The Times reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved the detention of activist Beto Coral, who later agreed to be deported.

In 2011, José Serrano became Ecuador's interior minister, overseeing the police and intelligence system.

The Board of Immigration Appeals took nine days in the spring to rule that activist Mahmoud Khalil could be deported.

José Serrano received a commendation from the U.S. DEA for increasing drug seizures during the Obama administration.

A Homeland Security Department spokesman stated the agency does not conduct immigration enforcement for foreign political interests or target individuals for protected political speech.

José Serrano held high-ranking positions under Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa starting in 2009.

Kristi Noem holds a position as a special envoy for Western Hemisphere security at the State Department.

In June, a Colombian activist who protested against Colombia's now-president Abelardo De La Espriella was detained by U.S. immigration agents in Arizona.

A conversation between Kristi Noem and Daniel Noboa took place in Quito, Ecuador on July 31, 2025.

A Homeland Security Department spokesman said it was 'categorically false' that the agency detained José Serrano for political reasons.

Charles Adkins-Blanch was appointed to the immigration appeals board under President George W. Bush and later served as its vice chairman.

José Serrano's lawyers have asked a US federal appeals court to order his return to the United States.

Former appellate immigration judges stated that a complex, fast-tracked appeal like José Serrano's would normally take weeks to decide, not a single day.

In March 2026, the US helped Ecuador's military destroy an alleged cartel training camp that residents claimed was a dairy farm.