Julie Turkewitz

Sure.

Luis Edison Chacon is a young man from Venezuela whose story is really representative, I think, of the stories of so many of these men.

He is a father of three.

He comes to the United States from Venezuela in 2023.

He comes with his family.

Like so many of these guys, he says that he's fleeing a really bad economic situation.

And also that he is following this flow of people that came up through the Darien Gap.

Right.

And he's working in Milwaukee.

He is working for Uber as an Uber Eats driver.

And the way that he tells the story is that he is with his son and they are doing Uber Eats deliveries.

And they go to McDonald's and he gets an order for a hamburger.

So he is making this $11 McDonald's delivery when he is pulled over by the police and told that he has a taillight out.

And this is what sort of begins his journey to this maximum security prison in El Salvador.

Turns out that Luis had had some previous scuffles with the law.

He, in 2024, had been accused of domestic violence, and the case was later dismissed.

He also had been accused of stealing some things from a Walmart, and that case was still pending, so he had been charged with theft.

and was awaiting the next step in the case.

He is taken to the police station, and it is also in this place where he says that officials noticed some scars on his leg and say something to the effect of, you know, we've got to look out for this guy.

These could be bullet wounds.