Detainee recounts chaotic near-deportation that was paused amid a court fight

Eduardo Daboin Rall, a Venezuelan national who was among at least 28 detainees placed on a bus Friday night for deportation to El Salvador before the vehicle dramatically turned around amid a legal fight, told NBC News the episode "made me cry" and fear that he was going to lose touch with his family.

The detainees were boarded on a bus at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Bluebonnet detention facility in Texas, and it departed for a would-be deportation flight from Abilene — until the Department of Homeland Security got a call to “cancel” the trip and the bus turned around to return to the facility.

The move came in the middle of a federal court hearing over the government’s ability to remove the detainees under the Alien Enemies Act. The Supreme Court ordered a pause of their potential removals hours later.

“I felt really nervous. It made me cry,” Daboin Rall told NBC News in Spanish in a call from the Bluebonnet facility. “It made me and the others pray and ask God. I was so nervous because I knew I wasn’t going to have any more communication with my family, and I knew they wouldn’t be able to communicate with me.”

Daboin Rall said ICE told him and other detainees they were to be sent to El Salvador. President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to remove members of the Tren de Aragua gang and send them to a prison in El Salvador.

“My fellow [detainees] are really afraid that we’ll be deported to El Salvador,” Daboin Rall said. “There’s no reason for why they’re doing it, and there’s even less reason because I haven’t had any sort of criminal record in my country nor in this country.”

He said that detainees scheduled for the removal flight Friday night were given notices of removal and that he, along with other detainees, protested signing the documents.

“They didn’t explain the paper to us, and the paper didn’t have anything in Spanish. We were simply told that it was the AEA law, and we refused to sign because they didn’t translate the paper,” Daboin Rall said.

In extensive database searches, NBC News has found no criminal records or arrests for Daboin Rall, and he denies any gang affiliation. DHS and ICE have provided no explanation in response to questions about the reason for his detainment and potentially imminent removal from the country under the Alien Enemies Act. NBC News first requested the information Saturday.

Daboin Rall said ICE detained him on March 18 — three days after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to remove members of the Tren de Aragua gang. 

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Daboin Rall, a Venezuelan national, entered the country in 2023 through the CBP One parole program. Records provided to NBC News show that he met monthly with an ICE officer at the El Paso, Texas, field office. 

“I’ve never missed a court appearance. I’ve never missed an appointment with immigration or ICE,” Daboin Rall said. “The truth is: I don’t have any criminal record. I’ve done everything correctly according to the rules of this country.”

Daboin Rall and his wife, Judy, both told NBC News that ICE never alleged that his tattoos implicated him as a gang member until after he was detained on March 18 and placed into custody.

ICE first detained Daboin Rall about a year ago for an incident at home, Judy Rall said in a separate interview. He was let go then with no citations, but he was taken to a processing center in El Paso a week later, after which he got out on bail and had to wear a tracker.

Daboin Rall said ICE evaluated each of his tattoos when he was first detained one year ago.

“They have it registered,” he said, adding: “I went tattoo by tattoo and told them what each one meant and that the tattoos had nothing to do with crime. All of them have to do with family and myself.”