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Yoiker S.: Asylum-seeking barber held at Guantanamo after turning himself in to Border Patrol

Yoiker Sequera, a 25-year-old Venezuelan barber who turned himself in to Border Patrol seeking asylum, was sent to Guantanamo Bay after five months in El Paso detention.

Feb 4, 2025Presidio, TXCountry of origin: Venezuela

Yoiker S.: Asylum-seeking barber held at Guantanamo after turning himself in to Border Patrol
Photo via ProPublica

Yoiker Sequera, a 25-year-old Venezuelan barber, was transferred to Guantanamo Bay after being held in detention in El Paso for five months. He turned himself in to Border Patrol in Presidio in September 2024 and was detained awaiting asylum processing. He has been cutting hair since childhood, trained by his uncle, a master barber in Venezuela, and later worked as a barber in Ecuador, Colombia, and inside the detention center. His mother Angela Sequera said he wanted to join family in California, and last spoke with him the day before his transfer, when he told her he was exhausted and felt his continued detention was unfair. He is among the three Venezuelans named in the ACLU lawsuit challenging the Guantanamo detentions.

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