German tourist held indefinitely in the San Diego area immigrant facility

It was meant to be a perfect reunification.

Amelia Lofving, a designer, had just moved to Los Angeles. Her friend Jessica Brösche, a tattoo artist from Germany, spent winter in Mexico.

The two planned to meet in Tijuana, cross the border and go to LA.

“We had to have a month just making art,” said the 37-year-old Lofving. “That was our plan.”

Brösche, 26, never came to LA. She has been in custody of immigration since January 25 – the day they tried to cross into the United States through the San Ysidro entrance.

Brösche had his German passport, confirming her visa exemption to enter the country along with a copy of her return ticket back to Berlin, Lofving said. A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agent pulled Brösche aside for a secondary inspection.

“I look at her and go,” I have to wait right outside for you, “Lofving remembered.

She didn’t know it then, but it would be 25 days before Loffving would see her friend again. Brösche spent that time in federal detention where she remains and waited for a deportation flight back to Berlin.

‘I can’t find Jessica’

CBP agents at the border accused Brösche of having planned to violate the conditions of Visa Waiver Program By intending to work as a tattoo artist during his trip to LA, Loffving said.

KPBS confirmed independently of Brösche being in federal custody. CBP refused to comment on the details of the case with reference to concerns about privacy.

Loffving said a CBP agent said that Brösche would be deported back to Germany in a few days. “She’s like,” Jessica will call you in a few days from Germany, “she said.

Loffving waited two days. No calls from Germany. She waited a week. Still no contact with Brösche.

Mutual friends hadn’t heard from her either. People started to fool out, Lofving said. No one knew where Brösche was.

“I’m a mute artist, I don’t know what to do in these situations,” Lofving said. “I sent something online,” hello guys, help me. I can’t find Jessica. ” ‘

The stills generated hundreds of views. And some people answered the call.

Using the federal Withheld location siteOnline Sleuths Tracked Brösche to Otay Mesa Detention Center, which is an American immigration and customs enforcement facility (ICE) operated by private contractor Core Civic.

Meanwhile, local resident Ashley Paschen Found Brösche’s story, while “Doom rolls Tiktok.”

“At the end of the video, she just asked if anyone in the area can put her eyes on her and help?” said Paschen, who lives near the detention center.

Paschen said she is not an activist and does not consider herself the type of person who would normally get involved in a situation like this. But something about Brösche’s story grabbed her.

“I think it was just the mother in me,” she said. “Her mother hasn’t heard from her and doesn’t know where she is. At that time, no one had any contact with her at all. “

Despite being a complete stranger, Paschen decided to visit Brösche at the detention center. She brought Brösche messages from family and friends. Paschen also told her that friends had already contacted the German embassy and tried to get her out of there.

“She was blown away,” Paschen said.

‘It was like a horror movie’

A few weeks later, with Paschen’s help, Loffving was able to visit Brösche.

It was a tear -wise reunion, filled with hugs and loffing repeatedly and said, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Lofving said Brösche told her about her time in custody and a particularly difficult nine-day period in what constituted lonely inclusion in a CBP cell.

“She says it was like a horror film,” Lofving said. “There were people screaming from the rooms around. They feed her through a small mailbox hole. She didn’t have a blanket, she didn’t have a pillow. It is basically a yoga mat on the ground and a toilet on the corner. “

To spend so many days in one of CBP’s short -term detention facilities appears to be a violation of the agency’s own internal detention standards, which “generally restricts withholding in these facilities to 72 hours,” according to a 2023 Report from the Office of Inspector General.

Inspectors conducted unannounced inspections of four short -lived facilities in San Diego and El Centro. They found that 42% of those of the 447 migrants detained in all four stations exceeded the 72-hour standard, some of which were there for more than 20 days.

Brösche told friends that the long -term containment has affected her mental health.

“After nine days, she says she started fooling out and beating the walls,” Lofving said. “There was blood everywhere.”

Brösche was transferred to the Ice Otay Mesa system after that episode. She has been there since.

Loffving and Paschen say they still do not know when Brösche will be released. Their questions for IS have gone unanswered. The agency did not respond to a query from KPBS.

Costs for taxpayers

Loffving said the episode is particularly absurd because Brösche’s original return flight to Berlin was February 15 – almost two weeks ago.

“Why do US taxpayers spend thousands of dollars detained tourists who are completely willing to leave,” she said.

The average cost of detention of a non -bourgeois adult is $ 164 per Day, according to an ismemo. Based on this average, one month of detention costs taxpayers $ 4,900.

An activist for immigrant rights said that Brösche’s history is an example of the country’s broken immigration system.

“It speaks to how ineffective this whole situation is,” said Pedro Rios with the San Diego-based American Friends Service Committee. “There is a lack of appreciation of how to make things run smoothly and people suffer in the process.”

KPBS could not reach the German consulates in LA and Washington DC

German officials told one Berlin-based news site“Our colleagues at the Consulate General in Los Angeles are in constant contact with US authorities and family members regarding the case and are trying to find a solution.”