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A Cuban recently deported to Mexico recounted the agony he endured during the five months he was held in an ICE facility in Texas, where, in his words, psychological pressure and threats were part of his daily life to force him to sign his departure to a country where he has no protection or legal status.
The case was revealed by Telemundo, which gathered his testimony and that of other migrants detained by Immigration.
Javier Basulto recounted that just six days ago he was deported to Mexico after being held at the Karnes detention center. He described how he was handcuffed and taken to the border, where he was forced to cross on foot into Mexican territory, with no clear process and no options.
"They mentally wear you down here so that you sign," he said. In his case, he claimed that the officers insisted that the deportation was an order "from Washington" and that, whether he signed or not, "he was going to Mexico."
Its version aligns with previous reports revealed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which recently sent a letter to ICE authorities denouncing physical and psychological abuses at another facility, Fort Bliss, particularly against Cuban migrants who refuse to be sent to Mexico, as the United States cannot repatriate them to the island.
According to Telemundo, among the sworn testimonies is that of a Cuban identified as Eduardo, who said he was taken to the border and threatened with federal criminal charges if he did not accept deportation.
Others reported physical assaults as severe as painful twists and blows to the testicles that forced one of them to go to the hospital.
While the Department of Homeland Security denied that abuses exist and assured that all deportees receive protections under due process, the accounts of Cubans reveal a landscape where fear, desperation, and uncertainty fuel the decisions that are made.
For Javier, the horror did not end upon crossing the border. He said that his greatest fear upon arriving in Mexico was being kidnapped. “They let us go at 2:30 a.m.,” he recounted, emphasizing that he was abandoned in the middle of the night, without information, without company, and without any guarantees of safety.
Testimonials like yours have multiplied in recent months and add to previous investigations that document the plight of hundreds of Cubans expelled to Mexico, where many find themselves stranded in cities like Villahermosa, in Tabasco, without documentation, with no real job prospects, and surviving in markets or on the streets.
Javier summarized it: "I was afraid to go back, and afraid of what was to come next."
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