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NEW STORY: Chilean man in photos died in 2021, had a different name, Chilean media reports
Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday denied the story shared by the family of an 82-year-old Allentown man who they say was taken into custody at a Philadelphia immigration office and ended up in Guatemala, calling it a “hoax.” Meanwhile, the family is no longer speaking to the media.
ICE issued a statement Monday saying there is no record of Luis Leon appearing at a green card appointment in or around Philadelphia on June 20.
“Furthermore, ICE has not deported Luis Leon — a Chilean national — to Guatemala, as his family members have said,” the ICE statement reads. “ICE’s only record of this individual entering the U.S. is in 2015 from Chile under the visa waiver program.”
“ICE never arrested or deported Luis Leon to Guatemala. Nor does ICE ‘disappear’ people — this is a categorical lie being peddled to demonize ICE agents who are already facing an 830% increase in assaults against them,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
The Morning Call repeatedly requested information from ICE during its reporting; an ICE spokesperson previously refused to confirm details, including whether or not Leon was even at the Philadelphia office, and said Monday that ICE investigators were not able to contact the family.
Leon’s granddaughter, Nataly, told The Morning Call she had visited him in a hospital in Guatemala City. He was in his sixth day of treatment for pneumonia and traumatized by the events of the past month, she claimed.
She did not respond to further requests for comment Monday, a day after her family issued a statement saying they would no longer speak to the media and were asking for privacy.
The Guatemalan Institute of Migration, which tracks migrants sent to that country, said it has not received anyone of South American origin, and said there is “no person who matches the name, age and nationality mentioned by the media,” according to the Associated Press.
A Chilean journalist, Jose Del Pino of Canalo 13, said a doctor at the Guatemala City hospital where Nataly claimed to see her grandfather had no record of him.
Additionally, Del Pino said, a man by the same name and date of birth died in Santiago, Chile, in 2019. Chilean citizens are issued national identification numbers and none matches another person with that name and birthday, he said. Del Pino provided a copy of the death certificate to The Morning Call.
Leon fled Chile in 1987 to escape the dictatorial regime of Augusto Pinochet, his family said, and obtained asylum status here. He had been in the United States since the 1980s, according to Nataly.
Nataly’s friend, Michele Downing, brought the Leon story to light when she addressed Lehigh County commissioners July 9. She was among a number of speakers who came to ask the board to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from taking people into custody at the county courthouse.
Downing said Leon had died in custody that morning; Nataly said that news came from a woman who claimed to be an immigration lawyer working on Leon’s case who contacted the family. The family hasn’t heard from the woman since shortly after that update, Nataly said.
Nataly agreed to talk to The Morning Call provided her surname was withheld due to concerns about family members’ safety.
Nataly said the family last saw Leon on June 20, after he and his wife went to the Philadelphia office to replace Leon’s lost green card. As they waited in a second-floor room, Leon’s wife told family members, he was placed in handcuffs by two officers and escorted out, his granddaughter said.
Nataly said Leon told her his phone was taken away and he was put in a bus to Minnesota and not allowed to contact family. From Minnesota, she said, he was flown to Guatemala July 1.
