'My dad isn't a criminal': Facing charges, scared detainees choose fast-track deportation
By: Ana Goni-Lessan (USA TODAY via Yahoo News)
Actually Isabela Hurtado's Dad is a felon because he reentered the United States after being deported. Illegal entry into the country is a misdemeanor but illegal reentry is a criminal felony.
As the article points out, ICE is cracking down on reentry felons. Whether or not an individual is an upstanding, productive member of society doesn't matter in determining guilt for a felony crime. Even if these are mainly decent people, The felony crime was committed when the individual reentered the country.
Even if these are mainly decent people, as Elizabeth Ricci claims, they have committed a federal felony crime of reentering the country. They became felons by illegally crossing the border a 2nd time. Running from the law and hiding from the courts does not change their guilt. And it's really difficult to claim they are innocent after being apprehended in the United States.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
TALLAHASSEE, Florida ‒ In a cold courtroom in downtown, Isabela Hurtado sat in a wooden pew. It had been over a month since she last saw her father.
On May 29, she watched him get ready for work at a construction site near the capital city's CollegeTown. When she next saw him, on July 2, he was in an orange jumpsuit, shackled by the hands and ankles, waiting to see a federal judge.
"All I wanted to do in that moment was cry, but I had to contain myself," Hurtado, 19, said.
She looked at her dad, Juan Hurtado Solano, seated next to his public defender. He turned around and smiled. Minutes later, he pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States, a federal crime with a potential punishment of up to two years in prison and $250,000 fine.
While entering the country without the proper documentation is a misdemeanor, reentering the United States after already being deported is a federal felony, according to U.S. Code 1326, Reentry of Illegal Aliens.
Amid President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, more people are being charged for illegal reentry into the United States. And many of those defendants are pleading guilty and agreeing not to challenge their case or removal because of fears of getting stuck in the immigration system, spending more time in detention or being deported to a country that is not their own.
Hurtado's father didn't make the decision lightly. He spoke to his wife and kids. Ultimately, Hurtado said it was the best-case scenario.
"If you're just going to get sent back regardless, let's just speed up with the process, because I wouldn't want my dad to sit there any longer anyway," Hurtado said, adding she would prefer to FaceTime him while he's in Mexico rather than the alternative.
Rise in illegal reentry prosecutions across U.S.
In February, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo to all department employees entitled: "General Policy Regarding Charging, Plea Negotiations, and Sentencing."
A group of men from Nicaragua watch their coworker who is being detained at a construction zone in Tallahassee raided by immigration agents on May 29, 2025.
"The Department of Justice shall use all available criminal statutes to combat the flood of illegal immigration that took place over the last four years, and to continue to support the Department of Homeland Security's immigration and removal initiatives," the memo states.
The number of immigration prosecutions in the United States jumped in March of this year. U.S. Attorneys charged 4,550 defendants with immigration offenses in U.S. District Courts in March, up 36.6 percent over February when 3,332 defendants were charged, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which tracks immigration data.
According to TRAC, in the past, illegal reentry was often pled down to illegal entry, which has a mandatory maximum sentence of six months and up to a $250 fine.
The plea agreements, also known as "fast-track" programs, were developed to handle the large number of immigration cases in states along the southern border in the 1990s. A former U.S. deputy attorney general once wrote the program was created for defendants who promptly agreed to participate to save the government significant and scarce resources that could be used to prosecute other defendants.
"It's common for someone to plead guilty to a crime to try to avoid detention, especially long-term detention, but they often don't realize that doing so has negative long-term consequences that would likely preclude them from getting a benefit for immigration for the future," said immigration expert Elizabeth Ricci.
According to the American Immigration Council, there are different reasons why a defendant would choose to plead guilty to the entry-related offense.
"These can include a lack of understanding of potential defenses against a charge (and lack of time to discuss such defenses with counsel prior to a group hearing); the prospect of shorter sentences; or misunderstanding the terms or consequences of a plea agreement," according to a council report.
Recently, many defendants and their families say they hope pleading guilty will mean their cases progress much faster. Reports of inhumane conditions at Alligator Alcatraz and other detention centers and long wait times to see judges create a distressing situation for immigrants.
"(Immigration detention centers) are overcrowded, people are sleeping in the hallway, people are being denied medicine," Ricci said. "I tell clients frequently that they may have to put up for very uncomfortable conditions for days or weeks if it means staying here for long-term, often people are so uncomfortable they aren't willing to stick it out and are wiling to leave and forfeit living in the United States."
"It's about making people scared," she added.
The threat of a $250,000 fine really worried Hurtado
"There's no way I could pay that money, or even try to round up the money," Hurtado said. "We don't have people with that type of money. That's so unreasonable … most immigrant families don't have much money."
'My dad isn't a criminal'
The USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida spoke to other family members of those incarcerated and charged with illegal reentry. They say their loved ones are being held in the same area as hardened criminals and drug dealers.
"These are mostly decent people whose only crime is entering the United States after being deported, but otherwise, immigration violations are civil, not criminal," Ricci said.
The day federal agents raided Hurtado's father's construction site, they also detained her two uncles. In three hours, Hurtado lost three family members. While her father and uncle are at a federal detention center, her other uncle is still in ICE custody in Texas. She doesn't know exactly where.
Even if her dad and uncle tell their family members not to worry, her mother and aunt hear the news about Alligator Alcatraz and are stressed.
"(My mom) just wants to get this done as soon as possible, because it's scary," Hurtado said.
Her 3-year-old brother hasn't been able to fall sleep well since her father was detained. The two used to fall asleep together - her father after a long day of work, her brother after a long day being a toddler. They would go to bed before anyone else in the house.
Hurtado's father doesn't have a court date yet. But her uncle was to be sentenced July 10.
"My dad isn't a criminal," Hurtado said. "My dad is literally a person who works every day, goes home, takes care of family, and that's that."
Ana Goni-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network - Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.
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What are the felons going to do? Claim they got lost and didn't know they had wandered across the border again? That they accidently got a job, rented an apartment, and sent their kids to school? Are we supposed to really believe these are decent people who made a mistake?
Oh yeah Hurtado - your Dad, having broken the law, is a criminal. Not doing a good job of taking care of the family - ya think?.
Be interesting to know the rest of the story - her Dad and two uncles Illegally entered. How 'bout her, her mom and her younger brother and other members of her family who are? Are they here legally or should they also be deported?
Look at this way, we are returning these Productive people to their home countries where they can do the most good. Much better than simply taxpayer money to foreign countries.
According to a new story in Forbes, roughly half of all the illegals arrested since Trump took office in January not only dont have any criminal convictions, they dont even have any criminals charges against them.
If this continues to be the trend there will be ongoing violence long before Miller reaches his dream of tormenting all brown people.
Yet they all have deportation orders don't they?
Seriously though. Why do you support depriving third world countries of such productive people. Isn't in those countries, and America's, best interest that these people stay home and build their own countries?
Seriously, the idea of deporting peaceful hard working people who have been here for 10 or 20 years is an extremely unpopular idea with the pubic. There will be a long lasting uproar.
There will be a long lasting uproar.
I'd be happy for mild disapproval from dEmocrats that unaccompanied minors are being used as illegal child labor on weed farms. It's 2025, can democrats at least admit that stopping the exploitation of kids is good?
Imagine going back to 2010 and tell Democrats that the response of their elected officials to ICE breaking up a weed farm run by illegal aliens that was exploiting trafficked kids would be to attack ICE. They've gone so far off the rails...
So, you're saying you're supportive of criminals, eh?
"extremely unpopular idea with the rich business owners"
There - proper statement.
If they had stayed where they belonged this would not be a problem
I Say we let them all stay, except the ones who have violent criminal records or have committed violent crimes and have had those crimes legally and properly afforded due process. Not the Fathers and Mothers of American Citizens. I think that any person who says otherwise is simply mean and sadistic.
Say we let them all stay
Two billion people want to come to America.
I think that any person who thinks “let them all stay” is a viable strategy is incredibly ignorant about basic economics and doesn’t care how many people they would impoverish.
Bullshit. Ignorance is your schtick. To Wit:
Economics is not a zero sum game. More immigrants means more people working. Oxymoronic? Not at all. Last I heard, companies were looking to hire. What? Has that changed since dickhead got in office?
The people who come here, like the person this article is about, work hard, make money, pay taxes, and have been here for a long time. All or most of their income is distributed throughout their community and beyond. That is the way to keep social security solvent. That is the way to keep the population (slightly) growing (hint:Americans ain't doin it). That is the way to peace and prosperity, you know, like we used to have. It is the formula for growth and success.
Kicking all of the immigrants out is like kicking oneself in the balls, repeatedly. Or rather, letting Tom Homan and Steven Miller take turns on one's ball-sack until one is lying mangled in the road, flapping their lips around like a fish out of water. That is the what the Trump administration is all about in a (snick) nut-shell.
Can't wait for those tariffs to finally catch up to us. Another brilliant idea from the lunatic in chief. /s
Congress is the lunatic idiot in chief. Congress wrote and passed the laws on immigration after much discussion - but they don't have the ballz to enforce the laws they passed.
Don't try to pass this off on the present president. It all started back in the 20's - there's your blame - and their name is Congress.
Talk about ignorance. Lol. In your altered reality, do imagine doctors and other professionals are the ones illegally entering the country? Of course they aren't. Instead, we have millions of free loaders stressing an already stressed health system and making it even harder for Americans to access health care. Millions more would destroy the system in large swaths of the country.
What's really amazing, and depressing, is that anyone can make these sort of arguments after what we saw happen during the Biden era. The disastrous effects literally played out before your eyes. Cities and states had to cut services to Americans and borrow money to care for migrants. Billions upon billions were spent by already bankrupt governments just on migrant health care alone. How anyone could have been alive the last 5 years and said" there's no cost to uncontrolled immigration" is just insane.
I'm sure in the 4th century AD there were pampered roman senators sitting around their villas saying "of course we should let massive amounts of foreigners cross our borders and settle on Roman lands. Defending our borders is so tiresome. I'm sure these barbarians will just magically turn into good romans and nothing will go wrong."
Then you support Trump's tariffs? Global trade is not an immigration friendly economic activity. Buying imported food and manufactured goods does not provide jobs for undocumented immigrants in the United States. Vacationing outside the US does not provide jobs for undocumented immigrants in the United States.
To support your local community of undocumented immigrants it is necessary to buy Made in America. You have to look for the Made in the USA label so undocumented immigrants have a chance to obtain the American Dream.
If you really want undocumented immigrants to stay and work in the US then begin supporting Trump's tariffs. Begin demanding that food production, food processing, and general manufacturing come back to the United States. The local undocumented immigrants need those jobs.
simply mean and sadistic.
Wanna explain how enforcing the written and practiced laws are mean or how they are sadistic?
The following examples should include the statement the "Mothers and Fathers" were not American Citizens, but, under your synopsis, since the "child" was born in the U.S., they're U.S. Citizens, making any enforcement of the law "simply mean and sadistic".
So when a bank robber makes an "unsolicited withdrawal" and he's/she's arrested, ya gonna let'm go? How 'bout the 32 y.o. "man" who repeatedly beats and rapes a 12 y.o. "female" - let'm go? How 'bout the drunk 15 y.o. "Illegal Alien", with his four buddies who are also "Illegal Aliens", ramming their car into a crowd and killing three?
Legally - get'm out - period - and doing that ASAP would be good timing.
Hahahahahaha
Read it again. This time for content and to see how much your scenario matches up to what I actually said.
Do this for content - follow the law and you won't get your azz locked up and you won't be deported.
Easy peasy.
That's what I actually said - as does the law regarding immigration.