After spending three months in an immigration detention center, in Adelanto, CaliforniaLast weekend, Francisco Zúñiga was able to celebrate in Santiago, Chile, his hometown, that ICE deported him as he had asked them to.
–
Zúñiga traveled from Los Angeles to Miami and from there to his country. Due to the restrictions of the coronavirus, only his father Juan went to receive it, the morning of May 31. At home they waited for him, his wife Margarita and their son.
–
“I am happy because the nightmare ended for me; I’m calmer, but this nightmare is not quite over yet; I also feel sad because in my mind I have all the immigrants who are suffering there, “Zúñiga told Univision Noticias. “I would not like to sit idly bybut, like all people, we started a worldwide movement to fight in defense of immigrants ”.
–
“Two immigration agents took care of me and even bought me a hamburger. It was more than 20 hours of a trip that I would never want to repeat again, “he said.
–
Detained by immigration
Zúñiga, 27, had visited the US in 2018 as a tourist. He made another trip in August 2019 and decided to stay in the United States.
–
On February 6 things changed. He was returning from visiting a friend in the city of San Diego, bordering Mexico, and was arrested by the immigration authorities. Her visa was expired.
–
“The truth is I do not wish anyone to live the nightmare that I lived,” said Francisco, via telephone from Chile.
–
While locked up in Adelanto prison, immigration authorities denied him bail to go free and fight his case from the outside with the help of a lawyer.
–
Given this situation, he requested in writing that he be deported as soon as possible. He explains that he did not want to become another victim of the coronavirus.
–
Later, authorities from the Chilean consulate informed him that his deportation had been rescheduled for April 4.
–
On hunger strike
In desperation for not wanting to catch the coronavirus in Adelanto prison, he and other prisoners went on hunger strike, right at the height of the pandemic in southern California.
–
Among their claims, Zúñiga and dozens of other inmates reported being victims of inadequate medical care, poor diet, overcrowding, obstacles to communicate with family members and their lawyers.
–
“In the cells 6 feet wide by four long they had us three or four people; there it was impossible to maintain the distance between one and the other; neither did they provide us with masks or hand sanitizers, ”he recalled. “But when they put us in a big room, we were between 80 and 100 people.”
–
“I was desperate; I just wanted them to return me to Chile, ”he said. In fact, we all wanted to be freed because of the danger of coronavirus or to be deported ”.
–
The inmates had access to a television where they watched the news in Spanish and the ravages and deaths that the coronavirus was causing in California and around the world.
–
“Yes, I thought I was going to die; the American dream that many talk about, for me it was a nightmare that I’m barely getting out of ”, he told Univision News. “Actually, we all have goals and dreams, but for the short time I lived there (in the US) I have experienced firsthand that they hold the immigrant (undocumented) and lock him up as if he were a criminal.”
–
Juan José Gutiérrez, one of the lawyers who represented Francisco Zúñiga in the initial process of seeking his freedom and the subsequent desire for deportation of the young Chilean told Univision Noticias that “the lives of human beings who have been classified as undocumented, in the eyes of the Immigration authorities and the federal government have made these workers less than human beings. “
–
Family party
On instructions from the health authorities in his country, Zúñiga has been quarantined at his father’s house, until it is found that he is not a carrier of the coronavirus.
–
“Very soon I will travel to my city of The Andes, which is 65 kilometers north of Santiago, ”he reported. “And to be forever with my son and my wife.”
–
In fact, on Saturday June 6 he could already be with them for a few hours. A welcome party was held at her father’s house. Juan Zúñiga, Francisco’s father, said by telephone from Santiago de Chile, who after February 6, suffered to the unspeakable for the anguish of not knowing about her son for 10 days.
–
