By Anonymous
I’m not an offender but I dated one. He was convicted as juvenile in King County Washington when he was 14. He’s 42 now. In 2021 we landed in SJO for a family vacation to Costa Rica with our three kids. He was denied entry straight off the plane whilst the kids and I were permitted to travel forward and we did, which was terrifying but we’d already spent the money. He was flown back to our state by the airline. I was really bewildered by the whole experience for obvious reasons but after getting back and digging deeper into the issue I have become familiar with two things that I think this forum would benefit from knowing: 1) King Country seems to have an abundance of corrupt individuals both at the state and federal level who are creating a school to prison pipeline for some deep pockets in the judicial system and primarily prey on minorities and inpoverished minors…and 2) Costa Rica (whom seems to operate on similar principles) recently passed laws within the last five years or so that basically permits them to deny entry to said individuals with abandon and at random. When we were questioned we weren’t even really provided any answers other than a vague yellow piece of paper and direct instruction to “say your goodbyes we want him out of our country within 15 minutes”. So, there you have it. As a former felon myself (not for SO but assault) I too sympathize with the struggle of trying to reform one’s life whilst being honest about their personal journey and growth. I wish we had more compassion for that in humanity. Hopefully this post will help someone who is seeking answers.
Our friends took his wife to Mexico on an anniversary trip. It was 8 years after he served his time. They sent them back home to Utah right off the plain.