A medical emergency diverted Daury Baez Seri’s flight from San Juan to Boston to Bermuda, unexpectedly taking a Boston-area DACA recipient outside the United States. The stop was followed by more than 24 hours in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody at Boston Logan International Airport, according to his attorneys. Baez Seri was released late Wednesday evening, his attorneys said. The incident raises a difficult question: how does an emergency diversion affect the status of someone whose travel was planned to remain within the United States?
The flight was diverted to Bermuda on October 5 because of an onboard medical emergency, according to WCVB. Passengers were taken to a hotel, then transported back to the airport early Tuesday. A customs issue kept them aboard the plane for hours; some passengers were questioned about their immigration status before the flight continued to Boston, the station reported.
Baez Seri was brought to the United States from the Dominican Republic at age six and grew up in Boston. His attorney says he has no criminal record and is lawfully present under DACA. Baez Seri had traveled to Puerto Rico for a gaming convention; according to his attorney, the Bermuda stop was forced by the emergency and he did not intentionally travel outside the United States.
A Legal Gray Zone Triggered by an Emergency Landing
Under normal circumstances, domestic travel to Puerto Rico does not require DACA recipients to obtain Advance Parole, since it is treated as travel within the United States rather than an international trip, according to official guidance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. DACA recipients are otherwise required to apply for special permission before traveling internationally, since any unauthorized travel outside the country can automatically terminate deferred action status unless Advance Parole was granted in advance, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Pomerleau said Baez Seri was treated as having self-deported, despite the departure being involuntary. He also alleged that Baez Seri was not allowed to call an attorney before his release and was treated as if he were outside the United States and not entitled to rights.
Other Immigration Cases at Logan
Other immigration cases at Logan have drawn attention this year. In July, a 32-year-old DACA recipient was detained at Logan after flying home from a Noah Kahan concert at Fenway Park and was held in ICE custody for more than a week before being released — a case Hoodline previously reported. That same day, federal officers also detained a Seattle-based DJ who had traveled to the Boston area for a FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match, transferring him to Plymouth County Correctional Facility, according to the Caribbean Television Network.
In November 2025, a 19-year-old Babson College student was detained at Logan while traveling home for Thanksgiving and was illegally deported to Honduras, prompting U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns to order federal officials in January 2026 to rectify the unlawful removal, as reported by The Guardian. Baez Seri's lawyers said airport detentions of noncitizens will likely increase, and they alleged that airports are being used as a weapon against noncitizens.
Tighter Rules Around International Travel
The legal landscape for DACA recipients who travel has grown more restrictive in recent months. On August 13, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a precedent-setting decision in Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, ruling that any departure from the U.S. — even one made under Advance Parole — constitutes a statutory departure that can trigger three- or ten-year unlawful presence bars, overruling a 14-year-old precedent that had previously shielded Advance Parole travelers from such bars.
Separately, the Department of Homeland Security established a $1,000 immigration parole fee, effective October 16, 2025, collected by CBP officers at U.S. ports of entry from individuals re-entering the country under grants of parole or re-parole. Meanwhile, USCIS processing backlogs have left some DACA renewal applicants waiting up to three years for decisions, and pending status does not automatically shield recipients from existing removal orders.
What USCIS guidance and airport data show
USCIS advises people who need to leave the United States because of an emergency to consider whether departure could negatively affect their immigration status or pending applications. Its emergency-travel guidance does not resolve how an involuntary diversion is treated, so it does not establish whether such a diversion is an exception for DACA recipients. On airport enforcement, WCVB’s analysis of Deportation Data Project records found 568 ICE arrests marked at or near an airport from Jan. 20, 2025, to March 10, 2026, compared with 108 in the same period before Trump’s second administration. WCVB cautioned that the data covered 16 airports and was not a complete snapshot; those totals do not establish a Logan-specific trend.
Pomerleau has reported representing approximately 10 individuals detained for immigration enforcement at Logan International Airport over a single three-month span in mid-2026, according to the Caribbean Television Network, with most of those detained facing no prior criminal charges. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to NewsCenter 5's request for comment, per WCVB.
