WASHINGTON, D.C. — An immigration judge ordered the deportation of Ecuadorian asylum-seeker Willian Yacelga Benalcazar to Honduras after he told the court he feared returning to Ecuador, where he said he had fled threats from criminal gangs. The case involves the Trump administration's expanded use of asylum pretermit motions, under which more than 75,500 asylum cases have had proceedings terminated without a hearing on the merits.

Yacelga Benalcazar had spent five months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention by March, during which he was transferred between five facilities across the United States, spending most of that time in Eloy, Arizona. An immigration judge denied his request for bond release. He said that during some transfers he was kept in handcuffs for an entire day, and that for more than a month his family and attorney did not know his location.

"I believe we abandoned the asylum case because the lawyer told me I could be in detention for three, four additional months. I was already sick in there. I couldn't take it anymore," Yacelga Benalcazar said. He said he caught a virus in detention, had to fight for food and drank water contaminated with chlorine. "All I wanted was to get out, to be free, because it's horrible being locked up in there," he said.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Yacelga Benalcazar crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in August 2023, was arrested for larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, and was deported to Ecuador on April 16. "President Trump's message has been clear: criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.," the spokesperson said.

The U.S. has asylum cooperative agreements with Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala and Uganda. Honduras agreed to accept 10 non-Honduran deportees per month. By the end of March 2025, more than 6,300 non-Hondurans had a deportation order to Honduras after a pretermit motion, but by late April only about 60 non-Hondurans had been removed there. More than 24,000 people received removal orders to third countries after a pretermit motion was filed, and about 13,300 of those cases are stalled on appeal.

"I believe what we're seeing now is the inevitable result of forcing judges to order immigrants deported to third countries that have not agreed to accept them. There are thousands of people now with deportation orders that cannot be carried out," immigration attorney Adriana Heffley said.

The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled in October 2025 that immigration judges should decide motions for third-country removal before considering asylum eligibility. In mid-March, ICE attorneys received an email directing them not to file new pretermit motions but allowing existing cases to proceed. Border czar Tom Homan said third-country deportations account for about 2% of total deportations during President Trump's second term.

Immigration court data through March 31 shows that about 16% of asylum-seekers with pretermit motions either withdrew or abandoned their asylum claims or agreed to voluntarily depart the U.S. A federal lawsuit is pending that challenges the practice of pretermitting asylum cases under the third-country agreements, alleging it subverts due process and that partner countries have inadequate asylum systems.