Trucker who accidentally entered Canada while following his GPS held by ICE for 3 weeks without “legally sufficient basis” while reentering US

A truck driver who accidentally entered Canada while following his GPS was held by ICE for three weeks when he tried to reenter the United States. 

In March, truck driver Arnaldo Gregorio Alay Aguilar was working an extra run hauling timber from Vermont to New York in an attempt to save up for an immigration lawyer after filing for asylum in October 2025. During that run, Aguilar followed his GPS and accidentally ended up at Vermont’s Highgate Springs border crossing into Canada. Border officials would not let him turn around, so he had to enter Canada, turn around, and reenter the United States. 

When Aguilar tried to reenter the US after incorrectly following his GPS, he was instructed to exit his truck and walk into a nearby building by a US Customs and Border Protection official, so he did. He communicated with officers through Google translator, and was told there was a problem with his truck’s manifest and that he must contact the owner, so he did. CBP officials then spoke with the owner in English, but did not translate the conversation for Aguilar. 

Aguilar’s phone was then confiscated, and ICE handcuffed him and transported him to another facility where he was detained for three hours before he was moved to  Northwest State Correctional Facility and held there for a total of three weeks, reported Valley News.

Investigation revealed that Aguilar fled Ecuador and entered the United States illegally in November 2023. He was detained near the Mexican border by DHS temporarily before accepting an offer from the government to fly to New York to pursue asylum outside of detention. Aguilar then went to Charlotte, North Carolina and applied for asylum there in October 2025. He has lived there for two years, has work authorization, and is currently employed by a local company in North Carolina. 

Aguiar was held in prison until he was found by Vermont Asylum Assistance Project’s detention check program on March 18, who agreed to represent him.

In court, Aguilar’s lawyers argue that the federal government  “failed to provide Petitioner with a charging document or to articulate a clear or legally sufficient basis for his detention,” and stated that the detention was due to a misinterpretation of laws. U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford then ordered Aguilar’s immediate release “given the nature of the constitutional violations in this case.”

“This case had a good outcome, but Mr. Alay Aguilar was subjected to 20 days of detention with 

Now that Alay Aguilar has been freed, he is back in North Carolina… He will be able to resume what he was doing before his apprehension — working, taking care of his family and continuing to pursue his asylum case,” his lawyers said.