‘This is Africa, deal with it’: the lives of the migrants deported from the US to the Central African Republic
From Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, several Latin Americans denounce that they have been forcibly deported here. They are also protesting their living conditions
Brayan Omar Sánchez, a 31-year-old mangler and truck driver, was deported from the United States to the Central African Republic. He found himself in the bustling capital city of Bangui, where he was housed at Maison Confort, an apartment complex in the central neighborhood of Lakouanga. Upon arrival, he encountered a stark contrast to his life in Miami, as everything was foreign to him.
Sánchez was initially skeptical when a guard in Bangui told him, "This is Africa, deal with it." He had anticipated being sent to a more familiar African country, such as Ethiopia, Botswana, or Cameroon. However, the Central African Republic, slightly smaller than Texas, was the destination he was sent to. Sánchez spent time in various detention centers across Texas, including the Krome North Service Processing Center, Denver, Colorado, and Phoenix, Arizona, before finally being transferred to a unit containing African migrants in Alvarado, southeast of Dallas.
He expressed his confusion at being placed with non-Africans, as the other detention centers kept them separate due to cultural and religious differences. On July 29, an officer informed Sánchez and four other Cubans that they would be deported to Africa the following day, despite his pending asylum case. The officer emphasized that the decision was made by ICE, and there was no way to prevent the deportation.
Written by urgent.news from El Pais English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
