Johnson County dad’s violent deportation to El Salvador, detailed
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Julio Rojas says ICE arrested and deported him in August 2025 after asylum denial.
- He reports unmarked cars followed him, officers used tackles and a knee on neck.
- Rojas lost jobs, housing and sought to renew work permit before sudden removal.
Hello, Star readers.
Today, we’re telling the story of Julio Rojas, whose quiet life in Olathe was upended when he as forcefully arrested and deported to El Salvador. “I lost everything,” he told The Star’s Eric Adler.
Next, we’ll get into:
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• ‘Heartless’: U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver was asked about the Republican-backed spending bill to reopen the government that some Democrats have supported. He didn’t mince words.
This week in politics
When Julio Rojas entered the U.S. as a 16-year-old in 2016, he applied for legal asylum. He was seeking protection from the gangs in his native country of El Salvador.
Rojas, who was deported in August, maintains that he had no idea his asylum was denied until he reached back out to his original immigration attorney over the summer to renew his legal work permit.
What ensued was a nightmare for Rojas, the father of a 7-year-old, who had worked for six years laying internet cable in Olathe.
Over a Zoom call, and with the help of an interpreter, Rojas recounted to reporters how he realized he was being followed by unmarked cars on his way to an auto parts store.
When he emerged from his truck, Rojas said he was tackled by one officer. Then another officer appeared with his firearm drawn, he said.
“He was repeating, ‘Get the f*** on the ground!’ all the time, just yelling,” Rojas said. “All that I did was that I kneeled. I put my hands up. At no moment was I resisting. He came by and he hit me in the back. Then he put his knee on my neck.”
Rojas said he chose to speak out to shine light on the excessive force he was subjected to during his arrest.
Read the full story from my colleague Eric Adler.
More from this past week
• Democrats had strong showings across the country in last week’s elections. Was that also true for local races around the Kansas City metro?
• Five years and two public rejections later, voters in this Kansas town finally agreed to let the school district build a new high school sports complex. Here’s how it happened.
• The mayor of a small town in Kansas won re-election last Tuesday. But by Wednesday, he was facing charges of voting illegally.
Looking for more?
• For more politics news, follow @bymatthewkelly.bsky.social, @kacen.bsky.social, and @grice1911.bsky.social.
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That’s all for now! See you next week.
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