Tonight, Jose Francisco Lucero Chusino, a 23-year-old Ecuadoran National, is at the Belize Central Prison. That's because he entered Belize illegally with the intention of trying to reach the US.
It is unclear to our newsroom when exactly he traveled to Belize, and through which port of entry, he arrived. Court details indicate that the police and immigration authorities detained him, and he was given an order to leave the country on the grounds of being an inadmissible and undesirable visitor. On October 9th, police and immigration officers escorted him from Belmopan to the Philip Goldson International Airport. He was supposed to be deported that day on a Copa Flight to Panama.
At around 1:30 p.m. that afternoon, he somehow managed to escape from law enforcement. A search was immediately launched, and officers eventually recaptured him on a bus that was heading to Orange Walk Town.
Chusino was spared the more serious charge of escaping from lawful custody, and he was instead deemed a prohibited immigrant. This morning, when he appeared in Magistrate's Court, the immigration officials asked the sitting Magistrate to grant a court's order mandating to leave the country.
That OTL was granted, and the second attempt to deport him has been scheduled for October 15th. Until then, he will be detention at the Belize Central Prison.
