Handcuffed, they deported more than 200 Colombians seeking asylum in the United States

A few weeks ago, it was recorded that the U.S. government expelled 600 Colombians, taking advantage of a health standard, which allows it to “expedite” the deportation of undocumented immigrants to their countries. The funny thing is that the rule would have been agreed with a pact between Presidents Joe Biden and Iván Duque.

But, in the last few hours it was reported that, on a flight from Houston to Bogotá, 200 Colombians were deported, most of them were in the process of seeking asylum, but, the complaint published by Caracol Radio is that, during the tour, nationals were handcuffed and assaulted by US officials; some could not want to go to the bathroom.

According to the interview on the radio network, it all started on March 23, when the 31-year-old woman traveled to Mexico, in order to seek asylum in the United States. Her idea was to cross the border through Arizona and surrender to the immigration authorities in order to process “refugee” status.

Once the Colombian woman crossed the border and surrendered, she was held in a center called “Yuma”, She assured that there conditions were deplorable, they lived with other people in tents, this for 5 days. At that time they were told that they would be transferred, but they did not explain where or how.

He says that at one point during the tour and from what he heard on the bus, in addition to what he could see through the cracks, he realized that he arrived in Texas. Once they arrived at the destination, they waited several hours, until an agent notified them that they would board a plane bound for Colombia.

After losing hope of staying in the United States, they were put on the plane, where the witness says they were handcuffed, and throughout the flight they should stay that way, even to eat and/or go to the bathroom, in fact, she said that she was forbidden to eat because she asked to go to the bathroom.

Once they landed at the El Dorado airport in Bogotá, he requested that Medicina Legal carry out an examination, as he claimed that he was mistreated. She did not clarify whether they did it or not, but, after being detained for a few more hours at the airport, she was released.

Despite the experience, he said that he will again try to seek asylum in the United States, since, he added that he was a victim of violence, since his father died in a “false positive”.

Taking into account this flight, together with the 600 Colombians who had already been reported as deported, some 800 people were returned during the year under the mark of Title 42, which did not have a date until when it was agreed to carry out these “operations”.

“After talks with the Colombian government, in March 2022, DHS began repatriating Colombian citizens to Colombia in accordance with the Title 42 public health order,” said a statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, led by U.S. Government Secretary Alejandro Majorkas.

According to the statement, this rule applies to single adults and family units who are found on the southwestern border of the United States; they ensure that before being boarded on the deportation flight, all passengers are subjected to medical examinations, given masks and tested for COVID - 19, which should yield negative results.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CPB, in February alone, authorities arrested nearly 165,000 people who crossed the US-Mexico land border.

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