Domingo Tot Quip arrived in the United States on December 23, 2022, carrying a heavy financial burden and hopes of supporting his family back in Central America. To pay off a debt exceeding $125,000 incurred during his journey, he labored long hours as a dishwasher in Portland, working tirelessly to provide for his wife and four children—ages nine, seven, five, and four—who remained in Guatemala. Those efforts were upended on the morning of January 21, however, when two masked immigration agents detained him at a bus stop as he headed to work.
Following his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tot Quip was transferred through a succession of detention facilities, starting in Portland, moving to Massachusetts, and finally ending up in Louisiana. Within a week, on January 28, he was placed on a flight and deported to Guatemala. It was only upon arrival in his home country that he realized federal authorities had failed to return his personal belongings and identification.
According to Tot Quip, he had been carrying $3,000 in cash representing his hard-earned wages from one of his jobs at the time of his arrest. While authorities returned his cellular phone, the charger and the cash were withheld. Furthermore, agents removed his passport and identification card from his wallet, leaving him stranded in Guatemala without a single identifying document.
The absence of official identification severely hindered his ability to navigate daily life and complicated efforts to rectify his removal. Although ICE recognized on February 6, 2026, that it had expelled Tot Quip by mistake, he was unable to secure an authorized return to the United States because he lacked a passport. Navigating the bureaucratic hurdles in Guatemala to obtain a replacement official document took seven months. During that prolonged period away from his employment, his family suffered the financial consequences of his lost wages.
Tot Quip’s experience forms the basis of a broader legal challenge. He is one of seven plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit alleging that ICE routinely fails to return personal property and critical documents to individuals processed through its detention network. The litigation is backed by advocacy organizations including the Democracy Defenders Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union. Representatives from the Democracy Defenders Fund indicated that they have interviewed nearly 50 individuals reporting similar grievances regarding unreturned goods and essential documents such as work permits, which prevent deportees from securing employment abroad.
When contacted regarding the litigation, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security stated that the department is reviewing the lawsuit and will respond accordingly, emphasizing a stated commitment to protecting individuals and their belongings while in custody. The spokesperson also criticized the ACLU’s focus in the matter.
Addressing Tot Quip’s specific history, federal authorities provided a differing timeline and context for his interactions with the agency. According to an ICE statement, Tot Quip was arrested on August 12, 2026, in Bedford, Massachusetts, after entering the country unlawfully on an unspecified date and through an unknown location. The agency stated he was released under alternatives to detention pending ongoing immigration proceedings, noting that his earlier deportation stemmed from a mistaken identity involving another undocumented immigrant with a final order of removal who shared a similar name, birth date, and nationality.
Today, Tot Quip lives in Portland, Maine, a city with a significant federal immigration enforcement presence where local associations have frequently protested the targeting of racialized communities. Reflecting on his ordeal, Tot Quip maintains that immigrants simply want to work and support their households. He noted that economic insecurity and violence in Guatemala drove him to seek a better path, and he joined the lawsuit primarily to recover the wages he earned through his own labor.
