The U.S. Government has deported Joe Exotic’s husband, Jorge Marquez Flores, back to his home country of Mexico following his recent release from prison.
Videos by Suggest
A rep of the Tiger King star confirmed the news to TMZ, revealing that Flores was deported on Friday. The deportation occurred just hours after Joe revealed that Jorge was taken to an ICE Detention Center for a hearing to determine if he could stay in America or be deported.
Joe and Jorge got engaged in October 2024 and were married behind bars last month. “Never been more proud of someone,” Joe wrote on social media. “Meet my husband, Jorge Flores Maldonado.”
TMZ reported that Jorge was serving time behind bars for immigration-related issues. Joe is infamously serving 21 years for his involvement in the murder-for-hire plot against his archrival, Carol Baskin.
Joe previously expressed concern for his husband’s status in the US. He said he was seeking asylum for Jorge. However, he also said that he and Jorge would leave the country once they were both out of prison.
Joe Exotic Pleaded With President Trump to Keep His Husband in the U.S.
Along with informing his followers that Jorge was heading to the ICE detention center for his hearing, Joe Exotic tagged President Trump in his post. He pleaded with the world leader to let his husband stay in the country.
While tagging President Trump’s Instagram, as well as White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Joe wrote, “Don’t you think between losing my life’s work, my parents, and now this that I’ve suffered enough?” he said. “It’s time to watch season 2 of Tiger King and see they admitted on world television the committed perjury, and let me go?”
He also used the hashtag “#FreeJoeExotic.”
Exotic has long hoped that President Trump would pardon him for his alleged crimes. Following Trump’s 2025 presidential election victory, the Tiger King star was confident that he would be released from prison soon.
“My biggest goal is not only to get out of here and move on and live a life,” he said. “I want to testify in front of Congress about the prison and justice system [and] what really goes on in here.”
However, he has been struggling with health issues while serving time behind bars. “I’m in a medical facility. Part of the roof is missing, and we have plastic bags above our beds taped to the ceiling to guide water out the window. In the last week, I caught 15 rats on sticky boards under my bed. Now 140 of us have scabies. I run a soup kitchen in here.”
He also declared, “That’s something Carole and nobody [else] can take away from me, that I gave back to society.”