Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Beto Coral’s criticism of a presidential candidate in Colombia undermined U.S. foreign policy. Franklin Humberto Coral Garrido, a progressive online activist known as Beto Coral, was detained in Phoenix after speaking against a Trump-backed candidate in Colombia’s presidential election.
Beto Coral supports Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a leftist with past disagreements with President Trump. Coral has openly criticized Abelardo De La Espriella, a right-wing candidate backed by Trump. On Tuesday, immigration authorities arrested Coral, which coincided with Marco Rubio issuing a memo that declared Coral deportable.
Marco Rubio’s memo highlighted that Coral arrived in the U.S. in 2015 on a tourist visa and has a pending asylum application. Rubio wrote that Coral used his time in the U.S. for political activities supporting the Petro government and advocated against a presidential candidate. The memo emphasized that allowing Coral to stay might harm U.S. foreign policy interests in Colombia by suggesting that foreign nationals can engage in political campaigns targeting democratic actors without facing consequences.
This action by Rubio continues a trend where he has targeted specific immigrants, recommending deportations on grounds of foreign policy concerns. Previous instances often focused on immigrants involved in protests against Israel, such as Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student arrested by immigration authorities last year.