Feather Foul: Illegal Immigrant Clips Protected Bird In Florida, Earns One-Way Ticket To Deportation

Posted • April 24, 2025: Listen, this guy shouldn't have been here to begin with, but in Florida, if you commit any kind of crime, you are probably getting deported if you are not an American citizen. This guy harmed a protected bird in the wrong state. —— Protected bird flies free in Key Biscayne after recovery; fisherman accused of injuring it gets deported. —— After months of recovery from surgery, a great white heron that witnesses reported suffered a broken wing during a dispute with a fisherman was free on Thursday in Key Biscayne. Witnesses reported Edgard Valenzuela was fishing when he threw a large rock at the wading bird on Jan. 20, at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Amanda Burke, of The Pelican Harbor Seabird Station near North Bay Village, responded to the state park and found the federally protected bird crouched in the grass, and bleeding from the right wing.

Burke reported that an X-ray later showed the bird’s wing had been fractured in two places and there was an emergency surgery on Jan. 21. The Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, a nonprofit organization, rehabilitated the bird while FWC officers investigated the case with the help of a park ranger at 1200 Crandon Boulevard. FWC officers arrested Valenzuela, 34, on Feb. 7, and prosecutors filed a felony case against him on Feb. 8 for intentional killing or wounding of any species designated as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. Valenzuela appeared in court on Feb. 8 and a judge set his bond at $1. Records show his next trial hearing before Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Laura Maria Gonzalez-Marques was May 27, but he won’t bet there. Valenzuela was an undocumented migrant, so federal agents deported him to Guatemala. —— More than reasonable punishment for messing with Florida’s wildlife. The Communications Director for Florida's Attorney General believes the punishment was more than fair. He's right. (…)

• More at: Twitchy - Feather Foul: Illegal Immigrant Clips Protected Bird in Florida, Earns One-Way Ticket to Deportation
https://twitchy.com/justmindy/2025/04/24/illegal-deported-after-harming-bird-in-florida-n2411860
WPLG Local 10 News: Protected bird flies free in Key Biscayne after recovery; fisherman accused of injuring it gets deported
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2025/04/24/great-white-heron-flies-free-in-key-biscayne-after-recovering-from-fishermans-injury-with-large-rock/