05/15/2026
Rodrigo grew up in Phoenix and was a standout high school football player whose dreams of college and the NFL ended when he learned he was undocumented, a loss that, along with his father’s death, led to depression, addiction, and instability while he struggled to support his family. During this time of hardship, he was detained by ICE and sent to immigration detention where he would spend almost two years unjustly detained.
While in Detention, Rodrigo witnessed hostility and injustice and almost died after falling ill with COVID-19. He shared his experience with “DETAINED,” an oral history project by the Florence Project, faculty members from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, and .
“They do what they want. Pretty much it's what they want and that's how it is. That's one thing that I noticed is that ICE, if they feel you're a threat to them, they're going to treat you like ****. They (ICE) don't go by the rules or how it should be, they just do whatever they want,” he shares.
Visit detained.digitalscholarship.library.arizona.edu (linked in our bio) to listen to Rodrigo’s interview and learn more.
