Asylum for Bryan

As previously noted, we arrived at Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI at 2:00pm, Monday, January 10th, 2009. Cruz Bay is the principal location of the Customs & Immigration office for yachtsmen coming into the area from BVI. However, Cruz Bay is tiny, and full of mooring buoys more or less permanently occupied by resident boats. There is a Customs Dock, but when we entered the bay it was full.

The alternate anchorage is around the point to the west, in Caneel Bay. Boats unable to get into Cruz Bay are expected to anchor there and use their dingy or tender to motor back around the point to the Customs office in Cruz Bay for clearing in procedures. So that was what we planned to do.

As KINGDOM motored OUT of Cruz Bay, we picked up an emergency distress call from a boat just offshore a quarter mile. The Coast Guard was requesting that assistance be rendered by any boat nearby. We spotted the distressed boat, and hailed them on VHF Channel 16. They were very glad to hear from us indeed. We notified the Coasties that we would assist the distressed boat.

Aboard the small boat were two women, whose husbands had been SCUBA diving. The men were swept away from their boat by the current, had run out of air, and were by then hanging onto a navigational buoy about a mile away, just in front of Cruz Bay. The women had somehow entangled a line around their boat’s propeller, which prevented them from starting their engine. Our first task was to maneuver KINGDOM as close to the navigational buoy as possible. Susan and Bryan helped the two men aboard, along with their SCUBA gear. Once the divers were aboard KINGDOM, we then had to get as close as possible to the distressed boat in order to transfer the men back aboard it. This was a bit tricky, as we were dealing with strong currents in the channel, and fairly brisk winds. However, we were able to do this successfully. Then we circled their boat while one of the men untangled the line from the propeller. Once they had their engine started, we left them to proceed on their way.

All this took about two hours, so by the time we dropped anchor in Caneel Bay, it was 4:00 pm, and we were exhausted, grungy and hungry. We had started the day very early, without taking time for morning showers. We had fought heavy seas through the morning hours, and thus eaten no lunch underway, so our first order of business was now something to eat. By the time we had each had a sandwich, it was 4:30pm. I started hailing the Cruz Bay Customs office, but they did not respond until nearly 5:00pm. I asked if we could wait until morning to clear in, since it was so late. They refused permission, and told us to be in their office before their closing time at 5:30pm.

Quickly dropping our dinghy, we (Susan, Bryan and I) scooted around the point, arriving at the Customs office at 5:15pm. While I began filling out our usual paperwork, Susan took Bryan by the hand (which was shaking), and approached the young Immigration Officer in charge. She said, “We have a small issue here…” The young officer politely offered assistance. She then said “We’ve just learned that our crewman here is Cuban, and that he wants to apply for asylum in the USA.” There was a momentary silence in the office. The young officer got a sort of silly grin on his face, as if to say, “You’re joking…aren’t you?” The older of the two Customs officers, growled, “You people have a lot of nerve, coming in here just before quitting time with an asylum request!” Susan politely reminded him that we had requested to wait until morning, but that he had denied our request.

They were very nice after that, and told us they had never had to deal with an asylum request, and didn’t quite know how to proceed. They inspected and photocopied Bryan’s documents, and made a few calls to other officers in St. Thomas. They told us to take Bryan to the Homeland Security office in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas as early as possible the next day for his asylum request to be processed. Breathing a sigh of relief, we went back to our boat. KINGDOM, Susan and I were cleared in.
Next day, Tuesday, January 11th, we made a reservation to tie up at the American Yacht Harbor marina, in Red Hook Bay, St. Thomas. Once the boat was squared away, we arranged for a taxi to take the three of us to the Homeland Security office, located in the Niskey Center on the western outskirts of Charlotte Amalie. We arrived about noon. The Security officer on duty called another office, and told us to make ourselves comfortable, and that someone would be there shortly to assist us. About 30 minutes later, Special Agent Fraser arrived, and introduced herself to us. She was a stocky, no-nonsense type, and looked as though she would be comfortable as a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. She was courteous and professional, and asked Bryan to fill out a questionnaire before beginning her interviews. She told us that her initial task was to verify Bryan’s real identity. She took him off to an interview room, and our waiting began…

Several hours later, interspersed with a short interview with me, Special Agent Fraser emerged to tell Susan and me that they would need to “detain” our crewman while they completed their interviews and processing. She told us that he would be transferred to a cell in the city police station. We, of course, wanted her to release him back to us overnight, but we were unable to persuade her. She told us he would be comfortable and well-fed in the police station jail. We were instructed to call her the next day for an update on his status. That was on Tuesday afternoon.

We didn’t get much information on Bryan’s status on Wednesday, so we decided to try to visit him in the jail on Thursday, just to make sure he was being treated well. We arrived at the police station about 2:00pm, only to find that we were dressed inappropriately for a prisoner visit. We had dressed in our best khaki shorts, with collared shirts, as the weather was warm and humid. We were told, unfortunately, that visitors are not allowed to wear short pants or sandals in the jail. (It would have been nice to have been told that ahead of time by Agent Fraser!) It takes a couple of hours via public transport to go from our marina to the police station in downtown Charlotte Amalie. The only thing we could do was ask the attendant at the jail to let Bryan know we had been there, and return to the boat. We determined to go back and see him the next day.
Friday morning, Susan called Special Agent Fraser to let her know we were heading back to the jail to visit Bryan. But she advised us to come to her office instead. She was going to bring him there in about an hour. Susan excitedly asked her if Bryan would be released that afternoon. Agent Fraser said, “I’m working on that…”

Arriving once again at the Homeland Security Office, we sat down to wait. Agent Fraser told us that an FBI Agent had flown in from Miami, just to interview Bryan, but that it wouldn’t take very long – maybe a half hour. Several hours later, Bryan was released!

We walked to a nearby marina restaurant to celebrate with beer and sandwiches. Bryan insisted on treating us, as his first act as a free man, on his way to US Citizenship. He was also able to telephone his Mother in Cuba, to let her know that he was over the first hurdle.

Bryan was given legal documents which described his status. Officially he was released on his own recognizance, and was free to travel to Miami. Once there, he was to report to the Immigration offices, and formally apply for a series of interviews and hearings, after which an immigration judge would rule on his eligibility for asylum.

So Bryan spent Friday evening and Saturday aboard KINGDOM. On Saturday, Brian gave the boat one last thorough scrubbing, and then packed his clothing, books, and medical gear. Susan made the reservations for his flight to Miami early Sunday morning, where he was to be met by his cousins and an aunt at the airport. Saturday night, we played our last few games of dominoes with Bryan, and turned in early.

By 5:30am Sunday morning, Bryan was on his way to the airport, and on to Miami. Sunday evening, he called us to let us know he had arrived safely, and was with his aunt and her family. We had already begun to miss his lively presence!