Lawyers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are confirming that an Ecuadorian man detained in Maine earlier this summer has been released.
Court filings show Edgar Vicente Bermeo Sicha was released from ICE custody on Saturday, a day after a federal judge in Maine ordered his release.
Bermeo Sicha was working as a carpenter in Massachusetts when he was arrested on his way to a job site in Maine with two co-workers on July 28.
He was later flown to Texas, but the judge ordered his release, agreeing with Bermeo Sicha’s lawyer that he wasn’t told why he was being detained or allowed to challenge the decision, in violation of due process guaranteed in the 5th Amendment.
It’s not clear where Bermeo Sicha now is after his release.
Bermeo Sicha entered the U.S. in March 2024 and surrendered to the Department of
Homeland Security, saying that he feared persecution. The agency then release him on his own recognizance and ordered him to appear in immigration court on August 27, 2025.
For the next sixteen months, Bermeo Sicha worked as a carpenter in
Massachusetts. He was arrested in Maine about a month before his late August court date this year.