For eight hours, Raymundo Caal-Caal clung to a sweaty, hungry and fearful Texas, trying to avoid being arrested by US immigration authorities.
The effort was no use and Guatemala immigrant was handcuffed after a dramatic wait filmed by the univision cameras, CNN affiliate. This was the latest example of the desperation that many people pass by trying a better life outside their home countries.
In a statement issued on Wednesday (30), the Guatemala Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minex) said it monitors the case.
The ministry also confirmed the true identity of Caal-CAL: a 30-year-old man who left the municipality of Chahal, in Alta Verapaz, one of the 22 departments of Guatemala.
According to the authorities, the immigrant tried to escape from US immigration and customs agents (Ice) in San Antonio, Texas.
While he was on the tree, Univision recorded several people in the community, who advised him not to sign anything because they would help him find a lawyer.
CAAL-CAL talked to sister-in-law, who informed him that there was a court order and would be taken to the same detention center where his brother, José Luis, was arrested by ICE the same week.
A statement from the government agency obtained by the CNN He detailed that before climbing the tree, Caal-Caal was arrested during a traffic blitz that stopped the car he traveled as a passenger. At that moment, the guatemaco came out of the vehicle and fled on foot.
“He entered the backyard of a nearby residence and climbed into a tree to escape prison.”
THE CNN He asked Ice for details about the detention of the two brothers, as well as where they are maintained and if they have legal representation. From Guatemala, Caal-Caal’s parents told Univision in an interview that they depend financially on the money their children send from the US.
He also appears as Raúl Ical in a judicial document in the western district of Texas, where an ICE officer said he had already been deported in April 2013 and arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in San Antonio in 2024.
About the case, US internal security secretary Kristi Noem wrote on Tuesday that “whether on a tree or hidden at the home of an activist judge, if you are here illegally, Ice will find it, arrest it and you will be deported.”
You can run, but you can’t hide.
WHETHER IN A TREE OR HARBORED IN AN ACTIVIST JUDGE’S HOUSE, IF YOU ARE ILLEGALLY, ICE WILL FIND YOU, ARREST YOU, AND YOU WILL BE DEPONTED. https://t.co/q99mxcp9hy
– Secretary Kristi Noem (@sec_noem) April 30, 2025
This content was originally published in Guatemala immigrant spent 8 hours on top of the tree to avoid arrest on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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