Alex Pereira-Alves has lived and worked legally in West Hollywood since 2018, but he has spent more than a month locked inside a detention center after a routine immigration check-in turned into an arrest. Federal agents detained him on August 11, 2026, after directing him to report to an ICE facility in downtown Los Angeles, and he has remained at the Adelanto detention center in San Bernardino County ever since.
Pereira-Alves entered the country legally from Brazil on a six-month visa in July 2010 and later overstayed it, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. In 2018, an immigration judge issued him a final order of removal while simultaneously granting him withholding of removal, a protection issued because returning him to Brazil would have posed a threat to his life, as reported by RedState.
Withholding of removal does not grant permanent residency. It bars deportation to the specific country of persecution — but it does not stop federal authorities from pursuing removal to a third country willing to accept them, according to Fayad Law. That is the legal mechanism ICE officials used against Pereira-Alves, telling him he was deportable under the current administration before handcuffing him and processing him through the system, per ABC7's report.
A Sudden Call-In Before His Scheduled Hearing
Pereira-Alves's attorney said he had met the good-standing requirement under the 2018 order. Federal authorities called him on August 10 and instructed him to report to downtown Los Angeles the next morning — three months ahead of his scheduled November appointment, according to the Beverly Press. He was detained upon arrival on August 11, the outlet reported.
According to ABC7, ICE officials initially moved toward deporting him to Equatorial Guinea. His attorney, Jane Oak, immediately filed an emergency petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court. A federal judge put his removal to Equatorial Guinea on hold, according to the Beverly Press. The withholding order protects him from removal to Brazil, but does not itself bar removal to a third country, per ABC7. He cannot designate a third country of his own for removal, the outlet reported.
West Hollywood Pushes Back on the Case
The case has drawn direct involvement from West Hollywood's city government. On August 17, the City Council officially condemned Pereira-Alves's detention, with Assistant City Manager Steve Campbell calling on ICE to halt removal proceedings, according to the Beverly Press.
West Hollywood's response builds on its earlier opposition to federal immigration enforcement. The city joined a 2025 municipal lawsuit challenging ICE's use of civil detainer requests in local California jails, arguing the practice violates the state's 2017 California Values Act, known as SB 54, according to WEHO TIMES. That state law restricts local police involvement in federal civil immigration enforcement.
Living in Limbo at Adelanto
ABC7 reported that, by its September 23 report, Pereira-Alves had spent six weeks in custody. He told the outlet he feels trapped and does not feel safe, though he said he expects to feel safe if he eventually returns to Brazil. He remains in detention while Oak navigates what ABC7 described as an overloaded federal immigration and court system.
The fight has not been cheap. Phone calls and legal filings have already cost his supporting friends thousands of dollars, according to ABC7's reporting. Jeff Markwardt told the outlet that taxpayers are footing the bill for Pereira-Alves's continued detention, and noted that many people held in similar circumstances lack the resources Pereira-Alves has.
A Broader Push Toward Third-Country Removals
Pereira-Alves's case sits inside a wider expansion of federal third-country removal practices. At least $410 million has been pledged toward securing more third-country deals, according to The Week.
The Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where Pereira-Alves has been held, is privately operated by GEO Group with a capacity of 1,940 beds.
For now, Pereira-Alves remains at Adelanto as his attorney continues to press his case through the courts. The federal judge's temporary block on his removal to Equatorial Guinea remains in place, but no final resolution to his case has been reached.
