Documents confirm Marco Rubio signed the order authorizing Beto Coral’s detention. Beto Coral, the Colombian pro-Petro activist arrested by U.S. immigration authorities. Credit: @Betocoralg / X.com What Colombia suspected since June 17 now has documentary confirmation: Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally signed a memorandum on June 16, 2026, authorizing the detention and deportation of Franklin Humberto Coral Garrido, known publicly as Beto Coral, a Colombian activist and social media creator who had been publicly campaigning against presidential candidate Abelardo De la Espriella and in support of President Gustavo Petro, according to a copy of the document obtained by The New York Times. ICE agents intercepted Coral in Phoenix, Arizona, on the same day the memo was signed, as he was returning home with his 12-year-old son, and Colombia’s government, legal scholars, and press freedom organizations have since raised questions not just about the politics behind the order but about whether the official immigration justification holds up under scrutiny. What Marco Rubio’s memo says about Beto Coral The memorandum, which Rubio wrote under a little-used clause of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that grants the Secretary of State the personal authority to determine that a foreign national’s presence harms U.S. foreign policy interests, states that Coral “has used his time in the United States to carry out political activities in support of the Petro government” and has campaigned against a candidate in a foreign election. Allowing Coral to remain in the country, Rubio wrote, “Undermines U.S. foreign policy interests in Colombia’s democratic processes and suggests that foreigners can use U.S. platforms to carry out politically motivated disinformation campaigns and legal actions directed against foreign democratic actors without consequence”. The same legal mechanism supported Rubio’s 2025 memorandum against Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student detained for pro-Palestinian activism, and in that case, Rubio explicitly argued that he holds the authority to deport someone even when their activities are “otherwise lawful,” a position that several federal courts have since challenged without reaching a final resolution. Beto Coral’s immigration status: What his documents reveal The DHS described Coral as an “illegal alien” who entered the U.S. in December 2015 on a B1/B2 tourist and business visa valid for six months and remained for 10 years beyond its expiration, which, at face value, describes a clear immigration violation. However, the situation carries important legal details that the official statement did not mention. According to reporting by journalist Daniel Coronell and confirmed by Gimena Sanchez, director for the Andes at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Coral filed an asylum application in March 2016, while his original visa was still valid, citing political persecution and death threats connected to his activism and to his investigation into the death of his father, a police officer who participated in the operation to capture Pablo Escobar. Beyond the pending asylum claim, Coral presented the arresting officers with a work permit valid through 2028 that a federal judge had granted him, and his family reported that agents told him on the scene that a “letter from Rubio” was canceling that permit and authorizing his detention. Kerry Doyle, a former senior attorney at ICE during the Biden administration, told The New York Times that the case fits a pattern of using immigration enforcement to silence free expression, calling it “very ironic, but also very worrying, that the Secretary of State is using Castro-style strong-arm tactics to suppress free speech and protected political activity, exploiting the enormous authority of DHS against supposed opponents who happen not to be citizens”. The road ahead in the Beto Coral case What the confirmed memo does not resolve is whether the timing and targeting of the arrest reflect a coordination with De la Espriella’s campaign or whether it represents an independent exercise of U.S. foreign policy discretion, and on that question, the available evidence is circumstantial rather than conclusive. On June 16, the same day officials signed the memo and arrested Coral, De la Espriella posted on social media announcing “good news for Colombia and for patriotic Colombians abroad.” He included an image referencing Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who has revoked visas of foreign nationals considered a threat to U.S. interests. De la Espriella did not name Coral directly and has not publicly commented on the arrest. As of June 20, Coral’s family reported that they do not know his location after authorities transferred him between Phoenix, El Paso, and Louisiana. The immigration court has scheduled his case hearing for June 30. According to his former partner, Coral has not agreed to voluntary deportation. Colombia has not yet presented a formal diplomatic protest, but the Colombian embassy in Washington has requested information and has asked authorities to respect Coral’s due process rights throughout the proceedings.