In Central African Republic, deported immigrants find themselves in limbo
A Cuban immigrant is currently stranded in the Central African Republic after being deported under a controversial U.S. policy that sends asylum seekers to countries where they have no ties. The policy is currently facing legal challenges in the U.S. court system.
Why it matters
The case highlights the human impact of 'third country' deportation policies and the ongoing legal debate regarding due process for asylum seekers.
MIAMI — José Díaz, 85, had never asked his grand-nephew for a single thing.
But late last year, he noticed the baseball cap Arístides Fernandez-Garcia was wearing on his visit to New Jersey. He liked it.
Fernandez-Garcia promised himself that he'd give his great-uncle the cap after returning from a Miami hearing in his pending asylum case.
On Jan. 6 Fernandez-Garcia, a Cuban immigrant, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a targeted operation at the courthouse in Miami.
Immigration ICE is looking into 'mobile detention facilities' He told NPR that as he moved through a maze of detention centers across the U.S., losing 60 pounds and witnessing shocking violence, he held hard onto his promise. When his great-uncle got sick, Fernandez-Garcia called him from detention.
"I would tell him: 'Stay strong, because I have to give you the hat,'" Fernandez-Garcia recalled. The old man would laugh.
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