A San Diego-area rideshare driver who has spent nearly seven years waiting for a decision on his asylum claim is now in federal custody after immigration agents detained him at Camp Pendleton’s Cristianitos gate today. Friends and his attorney say he had valid work authorization, no criminal history, and had finally completed a long-delayed USCIS interview earlier this year. He was taken to the Otay Mesa detention center and is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge on March 12.
According to NBC 7 San Diego, the man, identified only as Rafael by his lawyer, came from Brazil in 2019 and filed an asylum claim shortly after arriving. His attorney, Nicole Wesley, told the station that a Feb. 3 USCIS interview had left the legal team optimistic, but a directive issued in December that paused asylum decisions has since stalled his case. Friends described Rafael as “smart” and “super hard-working” and said he was doing gig work while he waited for a final determination.
Camp Pendleton says gate checks are about force protection
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton says that anyone trying to enter the installation must have approved credentials and a valid reason to be there, and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel are posted at selected access points to support installation-level force protection, according to a base press release. The base characterizes the credential checks as a security step aimed at deterring unauthorized access, not as the start of a broad immigration sweep. Public guidance from the installation also notes that coordination with other law enforcement agencies at the gates is a routine part of operations. Camp Pendleton emphasized those force-protection goals in its statement.
Policy changes left applicants stuck in limbo
Rafael’s detention comes amid a sweeping USCIS directive issued in early December that ordered an indefinite hold on final adjudications of affirmative asylum applications and put many benefit requests from certain “high-risk” countries on pause. That directive is laid out in Policy Memorandum PM-602-0192, which instructed adjudicators to hold or re-review pending cases while the agency conducts enhanced screening and re-evaluation. Advocates and legal groups say the memo has had the practical effect of turning otherwise routine USCIS interviews and post-interview steps into points where enforcement questions can surface, and several organizations have launched legal challenges to aspects of the pause. USCIS and the American Immigration Council both outline how the hold has been implemented and the potential downstream effects for applicants.
What happens next for the driver
NBC 7 San Diego reports that Rafael is being held at the Otay Mesa detention center and that his attorneys are seeking bond at the March 12 hearing. His lawyer warned that if he is released on bond and moved to the non-detained docket, the heavy immigration-court backlog could tack on another two to three years before he gets a final immigration decision. NBC 7 also notes that this arrest came nearly three weeks after another rideshare driver was detained at Camp Pendleton, a pattern that has left local drivers and advocates on edge…