

Afaik he was being detained by the state, initially under suspicion of breaking the law but then later they continued to hold him just because ICE asked them to.
Reporting on this story hasn’t been very good, it’s been difficult to follow the more nuanced details of what’s going on. But the bottom line is very clear: he was detained illegally, and the fascists wanted to deport him anyway.
Basically, cognitive dissonance. They simply refuse to believe the truth, and make up their own fantasies in which everything is backwards from reality. It makes them feel like they have some power over their life, and/or that they’re special.
99% of the time people like this are just deeply freaked out at the idea of a cold uncaring universe with nobody in control.