A man seeking asylum after defecting from the Venezuelan military is still at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, six months after he was one of the very first arrests at San Diego’s immigration court back in May.

The 22-year-old man, whose family asked that he be identified only as José for his safety, was an officer in the Venezuelan army who disagreed with the Maduro regime, so he defected and made the journey to the U.S., arriving in San Diego in January to seek asylum, with hopes of one day working for the U.S. military.

At what he and his attorney Michael Hirman thought would be a routine hearing on May 21, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took José into custody and placed him into expedited removal, which is essentially a faster way to deport someone without appearing before

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