On June 4, 2025, Juan Carlos Portillo Contreras—who goes by “JC”—left his home in Seaside and was detained during a routine check-in with immigration officials in San Jose. The Pacific Grove community rallied around him, but he was eventually deported to El Salvador, a country he hasn’t lived in for more than 25 years.
"My life was destroyed in one second, without be[ing] able to say goodbye to my family or a simple hug from them."JC Portillo Contreras
Portillo Contreras is in his 40s now, but first left El Salvador to join his older sister in Seaside at 17. He says back home he was getting recruited by gangs and wanted a way out, but was deported pretty quickly. He made the journey across the border again at 19, and was granted temporary protected status for over a decade.
He’s been applying for legal residency since he arrived in the U.S., so when he showed up for the routine visit, he didn’t think much about it. But when he saw Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents patrolling around the courthouse—which has become an increasingly common occurrence in California—he knew something was wrong.
He was detained and held in San Jose, then transferred to different federal detention centers up and down California before being shackled and put on a plane to El Paso, Texas. After a week in Texas, Portillo Contreras and hundreds of other handcuffed detainees boarded another plane to El Salvador, where they were met with a police search by local authorities.
"The police start to search you, taking off your clothes, looking for tattoos and bad records," he said. "And treat you like a criminal."
Once cleared, Portillo Contreras was offered a phone call, but he had no one to call in El Salvador. His dad died almost 20 years ago, and both his brother and mother died in the last couple of years.
He said he had "no parents, no brothers, no sisters, no friends or family” waiting for him in El Salvador.
What he did have was a friend he made in detention. As the pair left the immigration center in San Salvador, a woman stopped and asked them if they had been deported.
"She goes, 'Oh, you guys just been deported?' And we were like, 'How do you know?' And she was like, 'You guys are talking with a different accent,'" he said.
The woman then handed Portillo Contreras $5—El Salvador uses the U.S. dollar as its currency—which was enough for the two traumatized friends to buy some pupusas and bottled water. Then, they headed to the friend's parents house, where Portillo Contreras slept in a warm bed and took a shower alone for the first time in three weeks.
The next morning, the two were still in shock. "I couldn't believe it. I was in El Salvador still," said Portillo Contreras.
After a full breakfast, he was ready to make the journey back to his family home in San Miguel. His friend offered him some money, and with a couple hundred dollars he boarded crowded buses.
Portillo Contreras says he couldn’t speak to anyone—all he could think about was his family.
"I'm in a different country where I don't know nobody, I don't belong here," he said he remembers thinking.
It took about seven hours for him to finally make it back to what was his parents' home. A neighbor had a spare key, and when he opened the door it didn’t bring any comfort: the paint was peeling off and the place was full of dirt, dust, mold and spiderwebs. The abandoned house was lifeless—except for a dog.
"We are two soldiers."JC Portillo Contreras
"It was my mom’s dog," said Portillo Contreras, who nursed the dog back to health. The dog stayed alive eating neighborhood scraps after Portillo Contreras' mom died, but now he gets daily meals.
"I feed him everyday," Portillo Contreras said. "When I came he was dying. Now he’s more chubby, eating well."
He renamed the dog "Thousand Wars" because he says they are both battling for their futures.
Portillo Contreras got to work cleaning up the house his parents were able to build with the money he’d sent back over the years.
"Every month I used to send them money to give them a better life," he said. "Now, I just feel like a winner because I did."
His days are a lot different now. He fills his time working odd jobs, playing soccer, going to church, and calling his family back in Seaside everyday. His lawyer, Sylvia Rodezno, is helping him apply for residency.
"His children are United States citizens. His wife is a United States citizen," said Rodezno. "He's built a life here. There's no way that they can relocate to El Salvador."
Portillo Contreras spent decades working his way up the food service ladder in Monterey County. He started as a dishwasher on Old Fisherman’s Wharf in his 20s, and by his 30s, he co-owned a restaurant in Salinas.
In 2015, he bought a 3-bedroom home in Seaside, but now his wife is struggling to pay the mortgage. Even with the help of a GoFundMe created to keep the mortgage paid, which is at nearly 90% of its goal, his wife is starting to rent out space in their home.
” My family's in bad shape right now. They need me," Portillo Contreras said. " I was their pillar of the house. I just want to come back and be able to raise them and be able to help.”
He was the main breadwinner and worked two jobs while also helping care for his youngest child and adult son with autism. "It’s just a nightmare everyday."
The biggest challenge to his case are the three misdemeanor DUIs he got over the span of 20 years. He’s sober now, and says he turned to alcohol when his dad, brother and mom died, but drinking hasn't crossed his mind since arriving in El Salvador.
"I’m bending my knees to God," he said. His strong faith keeps his spirits up. "God is with me and He will help me to get there and be back home."
Portillo Contreras took home about $200 a night as a restaurant manager in the United States, but now his wife has to send him money. He says it’s hard to survive on the pay in El Salvador.
“ It's not the same pay, the minimum wage here is $10 per day, not per hour," he said. "It's brutal.”
Still, Portillo Contreras says he has lots to be thankful for. His former employers at Wild Fish have sent him money, friends have come to visit him in El Salvador, and community support has kept him going.
"What matters is to keep going and be thankful for what God bring[s] to us," he said. "I always said God will send angels to you and help you."
