A young Colombian social media influencer says he endured 18 harrowing days in U.S. immigration custody after being pulled off a flight just before takeoff. Bryan Olivera, 22, was preparing to fly from Miami to North Carolina to attend his mother’s wedding when a flight attendant told him to disembark—agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were waiting for him outside the plane.
He was immediately taken to a processing facility, the first stop in an ordeal he later called “a form of mental torture” in an interview with Colombian radio station Caracol Radio. Olivera described overcrowded, cramped holding cells where 60 to 70 detainees were packed together, forced to take turns sleeping on the bare floor.
Perhaps most disturbing, he said, detainees had no privacy even for basic bodily functions, which they were forced to perform in front of everyone else in the cell. Access to hygiene was also severely limited—showers were not permitted, he said—and communication with the outside world was reduced to a single phone call per day, one that wasn’t always granted.
Olivera acknowledged that his own experience, while distressing, was relatively mild compared to what other detainees endure in similar facilities. On August 7, after more than two weeks in custody, he agreed to a voluntary deportation and returned to Colombia.
His account adds to a growing number of stories from Latin American nationals detained by U.S. immigration authorities in recent months. To read his full account, check out the original report at El Tiempo.
Source: Influencer colombiano fue detenido por ICE en EE. UU. y contó cómo fueron sus días bajo custodia: 'Tortura mental' (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: austinevan, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).