In Central African Republic, deported immigrants find themselves in limbo
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By Reshma Kirpalani

Friday, October 9, 2026 • 5:00 AM EDT

MIAMI — José Díaz, 85, had never asked his grand-nephew for a single thing.

But late last year, he noticed the baseball cap Arístides Fernandez-Garcia was wearing on his visit to New Jersey. He liked it.

Fernandez-Garcia promised himself that he'd give his great-uncle the cap after returning from a Miami hearing in his pending asylum case.

He never got the chance.

On Jan. 6 Fernandez-Garcia, a Cuban immigrant, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a targeted operation at the courthouse in Miami.

He told NPR that as he moved through a maze of detention centers across the U.S., losing 60 pounds and witnessing shocking violence, he held hard onto his promise. When his great-uncle got sick, Fernandez-Garcia called him from detention.

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