Even though it’s going through a bit of a rocky patch economically at the moment, America is still a favorite destination for defecting athletes. Two members of Cuba’s women’s soccer team decided to cross the border from Canada during the women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament in Vancouver and make the USA their new home.
Twenty-year-old Yezenia Gallardo and 22-year-old Yisel Rodriguez crossed the border by taxi on the night of Jan. 21 after their game against Canada. The women said they waited until their coaches were distracted and took off from their hotel. They flagged down a taxi and asked the driver to take them to the border, arriving there about 2 a.m. the next morning.
When they reached the border they stated to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official that they would like to defect. However, they didn’t have their passports with them since Cuban team officials make it a habit of holding athletes’ documents. Rodriguez happened to have her identity card hidden away in her shoe though and that was enough to gain entry into the U.S.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in most instances, defectors are held in a detention facility until they talk with an asylum officer who determines whether they have a good reason to defect. If they do, they then have to appear before an immigration court. But the spokesperson said Cuban nationals aren’t detained due to the U.S. Cuban Adjustment Act which was introduced in 1996.
He said Cubans can enter America and are given a notice which requires them to appear in immigration court in the near future to plead their case. He said while most visitors need the proper form of identification to cross the border Cubans are allowed in if they claim they have a credible fear of returning to their homeland. A credible fear means they fear persecution or have already been persecuted because of their religion, race, political opinion, nationality, or membership in a specific social organization or group.
The women’s specific reason for defecting isn’t known and border officials haven’t released that information. Rodriguez reportedly told ESPN that she defected because she wants advance her career as a soccer player and hopes to one day play in Olympics with the American team. Her brother Raudel told ESPN that he let U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement know that he would be responsible for her. She left Seattle the day after defecting and flew to Miami to meet with Raudel, who she hadn’t seen for 16 years.
It wasn’t the first time that soccer players from Cuba have defected while playing in North America and it might not be the last. Seven players with the nation’s Under-23 team also defected to America back in 2008 while they were playing in an Olympic Qualifying event in Tampa. In addition, Yosniel Mesa left the Cuban men’s national team in 2011 and defected following a game in the Gold Cup in Charlotte N.C. By the way, the Cuban women’s team lost all three games in Vancouver and didn’t qualify for this summer’s Olympics in London, England.
