Argentine footballer detained by ICE moved without notice, bail hearing canceled

Matias Pourrain, the Argentine football player arrested by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, is set to remain in custody after being moved without notice from the prison where he was being held in Florida to one in Texas. The 34-year-old footballer, who plays for U.S. club Miami United FC, had a hearing scheduled before a Florida judge on Wednesday, but the proceedings were canceled after he was taken to Texas, putting his case on the docket of a new judge. Pourrain was detained in Florida, the state where he currently resides, on August 6, before boarding a flight to Los Angeles for a match with his team. He has been living in the U.S. since 2019, when he entered on a tourist visa.  He has since filed an application for residency that was never formally denied. The player and his lawyer, Regina Borges, were hoping to secure bail during Wednesday’s hearing, meaning he has now been set back several weeks from gaining his freedom. Borges told Argentine outlets that her firm is already taking “the necessary steps to request a new hearing” but that “there have been no responses.” “ICE decided to transfer him, undermining his court hearing and ensuring he is not granted a fair and full hearing regarding his bail request,” she said. “There isn’t enough time to file a habeas corpus before the next court hearing. This whole thing is a show.” In chains Pourrain’s case closely mirrors that of Iliana Lick, an Argentine nanny who was recently released on bail after being detained by ICE nearly a month ago.  Lick was released after her family and partner raised money to pay the US$10,000 bond set by immigration authorities. The 30-year-old Argentine has since denounced serious abuses and mistreatment by U.S. authorities. “I was never in the country illegally. I have an approved tourist visa extension, and I later applied for asylum. I’m awaiting the process, and everything is in order,” she said in an interview with Argentine TV news show Telenoche. Lick denounced that, much like Pourrain, she was transferred through four different detention centers across Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico, without notice. “They wouldn’t tell us where they were taking us. The first time, they put me in a van for eight hours. I ended up thinking they were taking me to the border or that I was going to be deported,” she said. Lick added that despite not being charged with any criminal offenses, she was handcuffed, had her feet shackled, and had chains wrapped around her waist. “They were transporting us as if we were high-risk criminals,” she added. Living conditions also proved extremely poor under ICE custody, with the woman recalling sharing a room with “over 100 people” when she was detained in Louisiana or having to sleep in a tent with 50 other women in Texas, with no privacy whatsoever in the bathrooms or showers. “ICE put an electronic ankle monitor on me to keep tabs on me,” Lick, who has no previous criminal record, revealed about her current status, adding that her asylum request process remains active and she is waiting for the U.S. courts to schedule a new hearing date.