"The fence enclosed CATEM, a de facto immigrant detention center in Costa Rica where Dimitry, his wife, and their 6-year-old son were sent in February, along with 200 other asylum-seekers from Armenia, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and Russia, among others. They were part of the first wave of migrants and asylum-seekers to be deported by the Trump administration to third countries - places other than their country of origin where, generally, the migrants had never been."
"The family would fly to Tijuana, where they would download the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's app, file a claim for political asylum, and wait to be given an appointment. But on January 20, 2025, after eight months of waiting, their appointment was canceled. They drove to the Tecate border crossing and restated their political-asylum claim."
""Honestly, with the shape I'm in, it wouldn't be a problem.""
Dimitry, a former fitness trainer from Russia, fled with his wife and 6-year-old son to evade Russian authorities. The family flew to Tijuana intending to file a political-asylum claim through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection app and wait for an appointment. After eight months of waiting, an appointment was canceled on January 20, 2025. The family drove to Tecate, restated their claim, were handcuffed, fingerprinted, and held at Otay Mesa, separated for a month. They were placed on a military plane, flown to Arizona, bused to Costa Rica, and sent to CATEM, a converted pencil factory holding about 200 asylum-seekers from multiple countries. The facility was hot and humid.
Read at Intelligencer
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