CARLOS JOSUÉ MARCHENA MARCHENA
Carlos Josué Marchena Marchena spent his life between Limón, San José and Guanacaste, Costa Rica, where his family had deep roots and where he developed a love of cattle and traditional bull riding, known in Costa Rica as montas. His sister remembered him as a hardworking man who left Costa Rica during the pandemic in search of new opportunities and a better future for his family. In the United States, he earned much of his living as a driver.
Carlos was detained in Michigan in January 2026 and remained in immigration custody as his case moved through facilities in several states. After months of detention, he had accepted returning to Costa Rica, and his family believed he could be home within a matter of weeks. They had already begun preparing for his return and had even bought clothes for him to wear when he came home.
Carlos lived with Type 1 diabetes. His family and another detained man later told the Associated Press that he had complained about missed insulin, inadequate food and water, and worsening health during the final weeks of his detention. ICE has said that Carlos received appropriate medical care while in custody.
On September 18, 2026, Carlos was found unresponsive at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana and was taken to Winn Parish Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. As of early October, his official cause of death remained pending further medical examination.
About the Portrait
Carlos’s portrait holds the two landscapes that shaped this part of his life.
On the left is Guanacaste, where his family has roots and where his love of cattle and traditional bull riding began. A broad Guanacaste tree rises over pasture, cattle and the rolling Costa Rican landscape, surrounded by tropical flowers and foliage.
On the right, the landscape changes to Michigan, where Carlos worked and lived for years before his detention. Northern woods, water and native wildflowers replace the tropical vegetation, placing him between two landscapes that were both part of his life.
At the bottom, the heart is a quiet reference to home and to the family who was preparing for his return. They had been told Carlos could soon be coming back to Costa Rica and had already begun getting ready to receive him.
The portrait holds Carlos as his family knew him, connected to home, to the land, to the work that carried him forward and to the people who were waiting for him to return.
Download and Community Use
For the clearest detail and strongest finished piece, I recommend using cardstock and a cutting machine. (Check your local LIBRARY for one in their “Maker Spaces”) Cardstock provides the stability needed to hold the fine lines and structure of the design. You can download the black and white image directly from this site or access the full set on the Cricut website under the Papel Memoria Collection. These templates are free to use for personal and community projects, but they may not be sold or used for commercial purposes.
To download the PNG file, click on the black and white image, open a new page and right click to save on to your computer. Alternately, you can visit the collection page on the Cricut website for all the files here.
For anyone without access to a paper cutter, poster size papel picado portraits are also available to order here and can be shipped directly.
Sources and Further Reading
Last updated: October 2026