Man facing deportation climbs tree on San Antonio’s west side to avoid ICE agents

The man, 29-year-old Raul Ical, is a Guatemalan national who authorities say is in the United States illegally.

SAN ANTONIO — A man climbed a tree and remained there for hours as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to get him down. They say the man is in the country illegally.

The whole scene unfolded in a west-side neighborhood starting late Tuesday morning.

The man has been identified by Homeland Security as Raul Ical, 29. Authorities tried going up the tree at least twice to talk with Ical.

Ical eventually came down just before 7 p.m. Tuesday and was taken into custody.

He didn’t have any water while in the tree despite the warm temperatures. Neighbors say he had been up in the tree since 10 a.m.

Homeland Security says that ICE and Texas DPS have a criminal warrant for Ical. He is a Guatemalan national, and earlier Tuesday, during a traffic stop, Homeland Security says he ran from the car and eventually scaled the tree to escape capture.

Authorities say he entered the country illegally in 2013, then was deported nearly a month later. He then came back to the country at an unknown time and now has charges for illegal re-entry after deportation.

Original News Source