“They’re Going to Kill Me”: Judge Blocks ICE From Deporting Gay Man to Guyana

A federal judge has blocked ICE from deporting a gay man to a country where consensual same-sex relations can carry a sentence of life in prison.

On Monday, an ICE officer called Alex Pereira-Alves and ordered him to report to downtown Los Angeles—even though his next scheduled check-in wasn’t until November.

Alex went. Within minutes, he was in handcuffs.

A West Hollywood man was detained by federal immigration officers during what was supposed to be a routine check-in in downtown Los Angeles. Now, his friends and attorney are fighting his removal from the United States. https://t.co/kR4cAExlFl pic.twitter.com/3ePba1qVje

— KTLA (@KTLA) August 17, 2026

ICE officials told him: “We know you can’t be sent to Brazil. But we found Guyana, and they’re willing to take you.”

There was just one problem: Alex has never been to Guyana.

According to friends, Alves originally came to the United States from Brazil in 2010 on a visa. He had an open asylum case when, in 2018, an immigration judge granted him withholding of removal, allowing him to remain in the country as long as he stayed in good standing.

Alex works as a security guard and personal trainer. He has a dog named Bella. He has built his life in the United States.

His friends told KTLA News, “Everything he’s done has been legal from 2018 onward, in the sense that the judge allowed him to stay. He has a valid asylum case.”

Guyana criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual activity between men, with penalties that can include life imprisonment.

According to his lawyer, ICE never asked Alex whether he would be safe in Guyana. Instead, officials arranged a flight.

His attorney filed an emergency petition, and a federal judge stopped the deportation – for now. The government now has until next week to explain why it tried to send him to a country where he has never lived and where his sexual orientation could put him at extraordinary risk.

From custody, Alex called a friend. “He was terrified,” the friend said. “I’ve never heard him crying, bawling. He told me, ‘They’re going to kill me.’”

He is being held at Adelanto, a privately operated immigration detention facility. Friends say he has not been receiving his daily medications. Two people died at the facility last fall.