KTLA described Alex Pereira-Alves as an “L.A. man in country legally” when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained him at a check-in last week. Pereira-Alves has been under a final order of removal since 2018. KTLA left that out of the headline.
Pereira-Alves came from Brazil and entered the United States on July 5, 2010. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says his authorization was good for six months. He stayed after it ran out. He later received withholding of removal to Brazil, where he claimed he would face violence. An immigration judge nevertheless entered the final removal order against him in 2018.
DHS put it plainly in a statement:
“On July 5, 2010, Pereira Alves legally entered the country with authorization to stay for six months. He illegally overstayed his welcome…”
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin asked a federal source about that headline. The source said the order has been final since 2018 and that the bar on returning Pereira-Alves to Brazil does not protect him from removal to another country.
I’m told by a federal source that this “West Hollywood man” is a Brazilian national who has had a final deportation order since 2018. A judge granted him withholding of removal, which means he can’t be deported to Brazil, but he can be deported to another country. https://t.co/4GM0CCZnCv
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 17, 2026
KTLA went with the account from Pereira-Alves’ friends. His friends described him as “living and working legally” since 2018 and said the ruling allowed him to remain in good standing as long as he stayed.
The Justice Department’s immigration court office spells out how withholding works. The protection applies to the country where the threat exists. Pereira-Alves cannot be sent to Brazil under the 2018 ruling, but the order can still be carried out elsewhere if his life or freedom would not be threatened.
ICE called Pereira-Alves on Aug. 10. He was told to report to the federal building in downtown Los Angeles the next morning, months before a reported November appointment. His attorney, Jane Oak, said officers put him in handcuffs within minutes. They told him the government intended to remove him to Guyana, a country his friends say he has never visited and has no ties to. He was transferred to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
He said, “Wait, what?” They said, “We know you can’t be sent to Brazil, but we found Guyana who’s willing to take you.”
Friends Jeff Markwardt and Ellie Guthrie later visited Pereira-Alves at Adelanto. Before his detention, Pereira-Alves had been working as a security guard and personal trainer. Friends said they were worried about whether he was receiving his daily medication.
Oak went to federal court with an emergency habeas corpus petition. She says ICE gave Pereira-Alves neither proper notice nor a credible-fear interview for Guyana. The judge put the removal on hold while those claims are briefed.
Read More: Another ICE Family Separation Sob Story Falls Apart at the Seams
For now, Pereira-Alves remains at Adelanto. ICE cannot put him on a plane to Guyana while the case is pending. DHS says it will hold him pending removal.
Oak can challenge the rushed summons, the detention, and the lack of a Guyana interview. That is the habeas case. The 2018 removal order is separate, and it remains in effect. KTLA sold readers a “man in country legally” detained at a routine check-in. The headline never mentioned the order. Readers heard about the dog, the handcuffs, and the shock of the arrest first.
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