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Guatemalan man voluntarily leaves country after Pembroke Pines arrest, ICE says

By Carla Mendez
A man arrested during a Pembroke Pines traffic stop voluntarily departed the U.S. about a month later, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A man arrested during a Pembroke Pines traffic stop voluntarily departed the U.S. about a month later, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com

A man “living in the United States illegally for several years” voluntarily departed about a month after being arrested in Pembroke Pines following a traffic stop, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman.

The 49-year-old from Guatemala was arrested on Jan. 9 after Pembroke Pines Police Department officers stopped the beige Honda Civic he was driving.

According to the incident report, released months later after ICE review, the vehicle had only “one operable headlight and no operable license plate light.”

Police identified him through a fingerprint scanner after he allegedly provided a false name, according to the report.

The man was arrested on two charges: operating a vehicle without a valid driver’s license and giving false identification to law enforcement.

“The driver further stated he was from Guatemala, had been living in the United States illegally for several years and never possessed driver’s license,” the incident report reads.

He was booked into the Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail and police confirmed his immigration status with ICE, documents show. An agent at the scene said ICE would send a detainer to the jail, according to a supplemental report.

Broward court records show the man pleaded no contest Jan. 26. The judge withheld adjudication, meaning he was not formally convicted.

An ICE spokesman told the Pembroke Pines News on July 9 that the Guatemalan national entered the U.S. at “an unknown date and location without inspection.”

On Feb. 10, he “voluntarily departed from the United States,” according to the spokesperson.

The man had been arrested by the Miami Police Department in 2008 and charged with leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence and not having a valid driver’s license, the official added.

The arrest came as part of the city’s partnership with ICE through a 287(g) Task Force Model program, which began on April 14, 2025.

Since the start of the 287(g) agreement, four people have been arrested and one cited, records show.