FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — When professional soccer player Matias Pourrain came to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last month, he was flying across the country to play in a semifinal match.

He never expected to be taken into ICE custody.

Pourrain, 34, an Argentine center midfielder for Miami United FC, a professional club in the United Premier Soccer League, is now back in South Florida, reliving what he calls some of the worst weeks of his life.

“It’s really a horrible situation, horrible situation,” Pourrain said.

He spent more than three weeks in ICE custody across three different facilities, including one in Miramar that he described as having inhumane conditions.

“Miramar was the worst thing that happened to me in my life,” he said.

Pourrain has lived in South Florida since 2019. He said he has had a work permit for years and renewed his Florida driver’s license in July.

“It hurts because I love this country and I’ve lived here seven years,” he said.

“I don’t deserve any of this. I never got any criminal records. I never had any kind of problem.”

On Aug. 6, Pourrain was flying out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for a semifinal match in Los Angeles. After passing through security, he said ICE took him into custody.

At a detention facility in Miramar, Pourrain said he was shackled to a chair for the first 24 hours.

“Handcuffs on the hands and the feet. A chain all over my body here,” he said.

He said he was then moved into a small room that was overcrowded with inmates.

Pourrain said the food was moldy, so he did not eat for days.

“It was a little room. It was 68 of us inside there, I couldn’t even move. I was just like this, trying to put my head on the wall, tried to sleep a little bit. There was no bed,” he said.

Eventually, Pourrain was moved to another facility in Florida and then to Texas.

He was released on a $20,000 bond on Aug. 28, more than three weeks after he was taken into custody.

The Department of Homeland Security told Local 10 that Pourrain only had permission to stay in the U.S. for six months and overstayed his welcome.

DHS also denied his claims of inhumane treatment.

“Claims that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are FALSE. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens. All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries.”

For Pourrain, he said he knows what he saw and worries about those still inside.

“It’s inhumane what happens inside. They don’t deserve it either,” he said.

While his court proceedings continue, Pourrain is back training with his team and teaching kids soccer.

But the memories have not gone away.

“I think I’ll never forget about this. Because it was tough on me, it was tough on my wife,” he said.

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