Rolando, the 27-year-old asylum-seeker who survived a gunshot wound to the head only to be mistreated and abused in U.S. custody, has won his case, The Guardian reports. The indigenous man’s story made headlines when he shared that, instead of finding safety in the U.S. after fleeing attempts on his life in Guatemala, he was thrown into solitary confinement and deprived of proper medical care in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Medical records showed that he was treated with only ibuprofen despite suffering blinding headaches and regular bleeding from his eyes, ears, and nose. He has no criminal record and should have been released on parole to access care and community help, but ICE kept him jailed, even when a doctor said he was a “serious patient that presents with significant complexity of risk” following an ER visit.
With the help of immigrant rights advocacy group Al Otro Lado, he was finally freed on his third attempt, and subsequently began sharing his horror story of abuse committed by the U.S. He continued sharing that story this week, but this time before an immigration judge. “Rolando told the Guardian that returning to Guatemala would mean a certain death. A judge ultimately sided with Rolando and granted asylum,” the paper reported.
Not without the U.S. insisting on continuing to harm him, of course, because apparently it wasn’t enough to throw some pills at him and leave him to bleed out. “At trial, the US continued to argue that he should be denied asylum and sent back to Guatemala despite forensic evidence of the torture he survived, as well as the detailed claims of violence he faced as an indigenous Guatemalan,” Al Otro Lado attorney Anne Rios relayed.
Rolando, and justice, won out. “It’s really exciting,” Rios said. “Many people are fighting so hard to win their case, and when it happens, it’s almost like they are in shock, which is what I found with him. It’s also about what’s next.” She added that Rolando “still has a very long journey in front of him,” and the organization will be working to help him settle into a new life here. “It’s really about where he can go to be safe and comfortable.”