By Horizonte Cubano News
His name is Emilio Destrade Correoso.
He is Cuban.
He was placed aboard a U.S. deportation flight bound for Liberia.
He refused to remain there.
And today he is in Equatorial Guinea, thousands of miles from Cuba and the United States.
We know his name.
We know where the United States attempted to send him.
We know where he ultimately ended up.
But there is still much we do not know about Emilio Destrade Correoso.
And that absence of information raises its own question:
How can the United States send a human being across an ocean to a third country while the public knows so little about the process that put him there?
His Name Should Not Disappear
Over the past several days, Horizonte Cubano News has been putting names to this policy.
Leonardo Sánchez.
Carlos Rodríguez López.
Darwin Hernández.
And now:
Emilio Destrade Correoso.
These men should not become anonymous entries in immigration statistics.
They are also not automatically heroes simply because they were deported.
If they committed crimes, those facts should be reported.
If they violated immigration law, that should be reported.
If courts ordered their removal, that should be reported.
But government power deserves scrutiny regardless of whether the person affected by that power is popular, sympathetic or politically convenient.
That principle is fundamental to a democratic society.
What Happened in Liberia?
Emilio was among a small group aboard the deportation flight that arrived in Liberia on August 20.
He was not alone.
Darwin Hernández was there.
Carlos Rodríguez López was there.
Leonardo Sánchez was there.
Brazilian national Pietro Graza de Lima was also there.
They refused to remain in Liberia.
The circumstances surrounding what happened next remain deeply important.
Members of the group have alleged that force was used against them when authorities attempted to remove them from the aircraft.
Carlos Rodríguez López has publicly described being restrained while shackled.
Leonardo Sánchez, who suffers from a serious abdominal condition, has described his own disturbing experience.
Those allegations deserve independent scrutiny.
But then something even more unusual occurred.
The group did not remain in Liberia.
And they did not return to the United States.
They ended up in Equatorial Guinea.
From One African Country to Another
That sequence should concern anyone interested in government accountability.
A person is removed from the United States.
He is transported to a country that is not his country of nationality.
He refuses to remain there.
That country does not keep him.
Then he is transported to another country that is also not his country of nationality.
At what point does the government explain the rules governing this process?
What criteria determine the second destination?
What agreements exist with that government?
What legal status does the deportee receive?
How long can that person remain there?
Can he leave?
Can he travel elsewhere?
Can he communicate privately with an attorney?
Those questions have nothing to do with whether someone supports strict immigration enforcement.
They concern what strict immigration enforcement is permitted to look like.
We Do Not Yet Know Emilio’s Full Story
There is something Horizonte Cubano News needs to state plainly.
We do not yet have enough reliable information to tell readers Emilio Destrade Correoso’s complete personal history.
We are still looking for answers.
How long did Emilio live in the United States?
What was his immigration status?
What specific proceedings led to his removal?
Did he have a criminal record?
If so, what were the convictions?
Did he complete any criminal sentence imposed upon him?
Did he have pending litigation?
Does he have children in the United States?
A spouse?
Parents?
Brothers or sisters?
Did his family know he was being sent to Liberia?
What was he told before boarding the aircraft?
And what has happened to him since arriving in Equatorial Guinea?
We will not fill those blanks with speculation.
When credible evidence answers those questions, we will report it.
The Government Knows More Than the Public
There is one institution that presumably possesses many of these answers:
The United States government.
Immigration authorities know Emilio’s immigration history.
They know the legal basis for his removal.
They know why he was selected for transfer to Liberia.
American officials know what diplomatic arrangements permitted Liberia to receive third-country nationals.
And they should know what arrangements permitted the subsequent transfer to Equatorial Guinea.
Congress should be asking for those records.
Not because Congress should individually adjudicate every deportation.
But because Congress has an oversight responsibility when the executive branch develops a significant new immigration-enforcement mechanism involving foreign governments.
A Safe Third Country Should Be Demonstrably Safe
The government has defended third-country removals by describing receiving nations as safe destinations.
Then demonstrate it.
What standards are used?
Does the receiving country guarantee access to medical treatment?
Does it guarantee access to lawyers?
Can deportees communicate with their families?
Can they leave detention?
Can they work?
Can they obtain legal residency?
Can they travel?
What happens if the receiving country subsequently decides it no longer wants them?
Calling a destination safe should be the beginning of the explanation, not the end of it.
There Is Also a Question of Consent
Another issue deserves greater examination.
What were these individuals told before departure?
Did they know they were going to Liberia?
Were they given an opportunity to object?
Were their attorneys notified?
Were their families notified?
What documentation accompanied them?
And when Liberia did not become their final destination, were they informed that Equatorial Guinea would be next?
Government transparency becomes particularly important when individuals are moved between jurisdictions thousands of miles apart.
Immigration Enforcement Is Still Government Power
There is a principle running through every article in this series.
Immigration enforcement is legitimate government power.
But it is still government power.
And government power should have boundaries.
A final removal order does not eliminate oversight.
A criminal conviction does not eliminate human dignity.
An immigration violation does not eliminate the government’s obligation to follow the law.
And putting someone aboard an aircraft does not eliminate the public’s right to understand what the government is doing.
Americans can support enforcement and demand accountability simultaneously.
Four Names We Should Remember
The names are now part of the public record.
Leonardo Sánchez.
Carlos Rodríguez López.
Darwin Hernández.
Emilio Destrade Correoso.
Four Cubans.
Four different lives.
Four different immigration histories that deserve to be examined individually.
One extraordinary journey from the United States to Liberia and then, for this group, onward to Equatorial Guinea.
Horizonte Cubano News will continue following what happens to them.
If new court records emerge, we will examine them.
If their families speak, we will listen.
If government officials provide explanations, we will publish those explanations.
If facts contradict something previously reported, we will correct the record.
Because the objective of this series is not to tell readers what they should think about these men.
It is to make sure Americans know who they are and what their government did with them.
Today, His Name Is Emilio Destrade Correoso
We cannot yet tell you Emilio’s complete story.
That is an uncomfortable admission for a newspaper.
But it is preferable to publishing something we cannot prove.
What we can tell you is this:
His name is Emilio Destrade Correoso.
He is Cuban.
The United States attempted to remove him to Liberia.
He refused to remain there.
He subsequently ended up in Equatorial Guinea with other men from the same flight.
Those facts alone justify further questions.
Who is Emilio?
What happened to him?
What legal protections does he have today?
And where does the United States government’s responsibility end when it sends someone to a country thousands of miles from his homeland?
We intend to keep looking for the answers.
Because putting a name to a government policy is only the beginning.
His name is Emilio Destrade Correoso.
America should know what happened next.
Horizonte Cubano News — Analysis and commentary on Cuba, the United States, and the future of the hemisphere.