- German tourist held for weeks by ICE. Archived Message
Posted by larue33
on March 3, 2025, 12:00:59, in reply to "March politics thread"
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Brösche had her German passport, confirmation of her visa waiver to enter the country, along with a copy of her return ticket back to Berlin, Lofving said. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent pulled Brösche aside for a secondary inspection. “I look at her and go, ‘I’m going to wait right outside for you,’” Lofving recalled. She didn’t know it then, but it would be 25 days before Lofving would see her friend again. Brösche would spend that time in federal detention, where she remains, waiting for a deportation flight back to Berlin. CBP agents at the border accused Brösche of planning to violate the terms of the visa waiver program by intending to work as a tattoo artist during her trip to LA, Lofving said. KPBS independently confirmed that Brösche is in federal custody. CBP declined to comment on the specifics of the case, citing privacy concerns. Lofving said a CBP agent told her Brösche would be deported back to Germany in a few days. “She’s like, ‘Jessica is going to call you in a couple of days from Germany,’” she said. --- “She says it was like a horror movie,” Lofving said. “There were people screaming from the rooms all around. They are feeding her through a little mailbox hole. She didn’t have a blanket, she didn’t have a pillow. It’s basically a yoga mat on the ground and a toilet on the corner.” Spending that many days in one of CBP’s short-term detention facilities appears to be a violation of the agency's own internal detention standards, which, “generally limit detention in these facilities to 72 hours,” according to a 2023 report from the Office of Inspector General. Inspectors conducted unannounced inspections of four short-term facilities in San Diego and El Centro. They found that of the 447 migrants detained in all four stations, 42% of them exceeded the 72-hour standard, with some being there for more than 20 days. Brösche told friends that the prolonged confinement has impacted her mental health. “After nine days, she says she started freaking out and punching the walls,” Lofving said. “There was blood everywhere.” Brösche was transferred to the ICE Otay Mesa facility after that episode. She has been there since. KPBS |
- tvillini March 27, 2025, 11:45:41