An Allentown grandfather's reported deportation went viral. Then discrepancies emerged

Federal immigration authorities say a story about an 82-year-old Chilean national being arrested in Philadelphia and deported to Guatemala after trying to replace his lost green card is a "hoax."

The tale, reported by the Morning Call on Friday, described how Luis Leon traveled from his home in Allentown to Philadelphia immigration offices for what he thought was a routine appointment, only to be taken away in handcuffs. The family told reporters Leon had been granted asylum in 1987 after surviving torture during Augusto Pinochet's regime.

For ICE to surreptitiously deport an octogenarian green-card holder to a third country would have marked yet another escalation in removal efforts by President Donald Trump's administration. News outlets overseas and in this country, from the Guardian to the Daily Beast, reported on the story.

But claims of deportation quickly began to crack, as a Chilean reporter found that the real Luis Leon had died years ago and the photo circulating of the alleged missing man was of someone else entirely.

The discrepancies highlight the challenges in covering immigration arrests and removals and how affected families can fear reprisal for speaking out. Is there an Allentown grandfather, perhaps going by another name, who was arrested by ICE in Philadelphia on June 20 and sent to a country he had never set foot in?

Here's what we know.

An alleged death in ICE custody and a miraculous reappearance

The Morning Call learned about Leon's case in a July 9 Lehigh County commissioners meeting.

Michele Downing, whom The Inquirer could not reach for comment, told the story of a Chilean grandfather who had been arrested while trying to replace his green card. She told commissioners, who also did not respond to a request for comment, that the man had died in ICE custody.

Leon's granddaughter, who served as the primary contact for the Morning Call's story, told the reporters that news of the death came from a woman who described herself as an attorney. The woman claimed to know where Leon was and said she could help return him home. The granddaughter, who is referred to only by the name Natalya for privacy reasons, told reporters the alleged lawyer told the family he had died in ICE custody. A week later, the family heard — it is unclear from whom — that Leon was not dead; he was in a Guatemalan hospital. The granddaughter told reporters she was in Guatemala City on Saturday and met with an emaciated, weak Leon, who allegedly said he did not want to return to the United States.

Then Guatemalan officials issued a statement denying that such a man had entered the country.

Discrepancies emerge

On Sunday, the Guatemalan Institute of Migration said it had no record of a man who matched Leon's name, age, or citizenship. The statement contradicted the granddaughter's claim she was with him in a Guatemala City hospital.

No other outlet, including The Inquirer, has been able to corroborate the account laid out by Leon's family over the weekend.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a scathing statement that it had no record that a man named Luis Leon had a green card appointment in or around Philadelphia on June 20. ICE spokesperson Jason Koontz added the agency had no record of any arrests at the 41st Street center matching the description of the grandfather that his family offered reporters in the original story.

The only record immigration authorities had of a Chilean by that name entering the country was through the visa waiver program in 2015. If that person is the Leon family grandfather, it would contradict claims he had received asylum years before.

The Morning Call said in a story Monday night that Leon's alleged granddaughter had stopped communicating with the news outlet.

Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs, called the Morning Call stories "journalistic malpractice."

"ICE never arrested or deported Luis Leon to Guatemala," she wrote, adding the agency does not "disappear" people, as claimed by immigration rights advocates.

Does Luis Leon from Chile exist?

José María del Pino, a Chilean reporter with Canal 13, jumped into the story as outrage and concern spread.

Working with the name Luis Leon and a date of birth, del Pino found a man who matched that information, with the full name of Luis Guillermo Zúñiga León. This is the man who had entered the United States in 2015, he said, but he never lived abroad. What's more, that man died in Chile in 2019, according to a death certificate del Pino shared with The Inquirer.

Del Pino said Chilean diplomats held emergency meetings to track the alleged missing man. The Chilean consulate scoured Guatemala City hospitals to no avail, according to del Pino.

Soon after del Pino broadcast what he had found Monday morning, Luis Guillermo Zúñiga León's family reached out to the station, cementing the reporting.

Another family reached out to Canal 13 to inform the station that the photo of the alleged Luis Leon circulating across the world was of another Chilean man entirely.

"In the end, the Chilean government gave up on a continued search in Guatemala City because they came to the conclusion that the story was false, or we were faced with a Chilean who did not want to be found, and we were looking for a fake identity," del Pino said.

The Morning Call story

Morning Call editor John Misinco said reporters planned to publish a follow-up piece.

Immigration rights advocates double down

Ramped-up immigration enforcement means arrests can take place during routine appointments, as seen on Father's Day in Philadelphia, or while someone is at work. Confirming ICE operations with a department spokesperson can also be a slow process. When 17 people were arrested in a workplace raid in Bethlehem on June 11, the official confirmation was not published until a week later.

Due to the confusion, it is not unusual for families to close ranks after a loved one has been arrested and slated to be deported. Some worry going public will attract further attention from immigration authorities. Often, immigration advocacy groups like Juntos or Make the Road Pennsylvania help families field interview requests with local media.

The Lehigh Valley Emergency Response Network, a coalition that manages an ICE hotline and rapid response effort when someone is deported, pushed back on ICE's damning rebuttal, saying it had been in touch with the Leon family.

"ICE works to sow confusion about the whereabouts and well-being of the people that they are kidnapping, and we are committed to defending the families being torn apart by these disappearances," the group said in a statement Tuesday.

But the group would not say whether an 82-year-old grandfather was arrested in Philadelphia on June 20, perhaps under another name. Coalition officials also said they could not connect The Inquirer with the family's attorney, citing the family's request for privacy. The story drew international attention, they said, and the family was retreating.

Sorting through the noise in real time

Messages to members of the Allentown City Council, the Lehigh Valley Board of Commissioners, people who had publicly offered legal services to the family, the Chilean Embassy in Washington, and the Chilean Embassy in New York City were largely not returned. Those who did respond privately expressed concern about the validity of the story, not having confirmed it themselves.

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said he had given "everyone" his number in hopes of talking to the family, to no avail.

"I'm still trying to figure out what's going on here," he said.