Cooperstown Asylum Applicant Pedro Mieles Deported to Ecuador

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZELCOOPERSTOWN

Pedro Mieles, an asylum applicant from Ecuador who was detained during a routine immigration check-in in Albany last summer, was deported to Ecuador on January 8.

Mieles had fled to the U.S. after what he said was persecution from narco-terrorists in his home country of Ecuador. He worked at The Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown.

The Otsego County District Attorney’s Office told AllOtsego they did not have any criminal or arrest record for Mieles, and he said he has never been charged with a crime here or in Ecuador. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to AllOtsego’s requests for comment for this story, including questions about their rationale for detaining Mieles.

“When I went to the ICE offices, I went with the intention of doing things right, and I feel like I was deceived,” Mieles told AllOtsego.

Boyd Richards of Cooperstown, a friend of Mieles and fellow church congregant, drove him to the Albany check-in last summer.