Biography
Delmer Joel Ramírez Palma is a construction worker who raised safety concerns before the October 2019 Hard Rock Hotel collapse in New Orleans and survived the disaster. Federal immigration authorities detained him two days afterward. Worker advocates challenged the removal of an important witness and raised concerns about targeting and its chilling effect on other workers. He was deported to Honduras in November 2019. Political retaliation is not established as a judicial finding.
Case history and verification
Delmer Joel Ramírez Palma is a construction worker who raised safety concerns before the October 2019 Hard Rock Hotel collapse in New Orleans and survived the disaster. Federal immigration authorities detained him two days afterward. Worker advocates challenged the removal of an important witness and raised concerns about targeting and its chilling effect on other workers. He was deported to Honduras in November 2019. Political retaliation is not established as a judicial finding.
Status reviewed October 8, 2026: The documented ICE detention ended in deportation to Honduras on November 29, 2019. Release from U.S. custody is not a dismissal of immigration proceedings; present custody or continuing exile is not asserted.
Sources
- National COSH: Dirty Dozen 2020, Hard Rock construction case
- Associated Press / CBS: November 29 deportation confirmation
Biographical details and photo sources
Reported age: 38 in the December 3, 2019 Univision interview. This is a dated historical age, not a statement of current age.
Photo: Claudia Mendoza / Univision. The article caption identifies Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma. Photo source and caption.
