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A prominent Colombian activist left the United States after he was arrested by immigration agents and detained for over a month in an ICE jail. Franklin Humberto Coral Garrido, known as Beto Coral, was a frequent online critic of far-right President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, a Trump ally, in the run-up to Colombia’s election.

In a memo obtained by The New York Times in June, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed for Coral’s deportation and accused the activist of undermining U.S. foreign policy and interfering in Colombia’s democratic process by supporting current Colombian leftist President Gustavo Petro and attacking de la Espriella.

Coral arrived in the United States in 2015 on a tourist visa and had a pending asylum application.

“The treatment I received was inhumane,” says Coral of his time in ICE custody. He says that while in detention, he was beaten, denied food and water, and kept in solitary confinement.

“The problem that Marco Rubio and the Trump administration has,” explains Elizabeth Shaw, one of Coral’s attorneys, is that Coral’s opinion “is against what they are in support of.”

Izzy Aly Spent 6 Months in ICE Jail. Now He’s Fighting to End Detention.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

As we talk about a case that is quite remarkable, we’re joined right now in Bogotá, Colombia, by Beto Coral. He was living in Phoenix, Arizona, when federal immigration agents arrested him at his home in June after he filed criminal charges against the Colombian now far-right President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella.

In a memo obtained by The New York Times back in June, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote, quote, “Allowing Coral Garrido to remain in the United States … undermines U.S. foreign policy interests in Colombia’s democratic processes and signals that foreign nationals may use U.S. platforms to conduct politically motivated disinformation campaigns and litigation targeting foreign democratic actors without consequence,” unquote.

Beto Coral is a supporter of the current Colombian president, Gustavo Petro. In his memo, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed, quote, “Coral Garrido has used his presence in the United States to conduct political activity in support of the Petro government,” unquote, and accused Coral of attacking de la Espriella and undermining Colombia’s democratic process.

Since Trump’s return to office, Rubio has used his powers as secretary of state to target individual immigrants for prosecution and deportation, including student protesters such as the Palestinian advocate Mahmoud Khalil. But according to The New York Times, this memo appeared to be the first to recommend the deportation of an activist in relation to a presidential election in a foreign country — in this case, Colombia.

Beto Coral reportedly arrived in the U.S. in 2015 on a tourist visa and had a pending asylum application. He was deported to Colombia on July 16th after about a month in ICE custody.

We go now to Bogotá, Colombia, to speak with Beto Coral himself. We’re also joined in Boston by his attorney, Elizabeth Shaw, who is a partner at Humanitas Legal Group.

Beto, let’s begin with you. Can you talk about the day of your arrest and what happened to you in ICE detention?

FRANKLIN HUMBERTO CORAL GARRIDO: Hi. Good morning. Thank you for joining........

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