TIJUANA, Mexico — When a plane full of Venezuelan migrants landed in San Diego from Texas on a recent afternoon, Luis Gonzalez and many of those around him began to applaud, rattling the chains that bound their wrists to their ankles and waists.
They believed they were about to be processed and released from U.S. immigration custody, one more step toward safety after a grueling and often deadly journey from South America to the U.S.-Mexico border. It was only when they arrived at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, had their shackles removed and noticed Mexican flags on officials' uniforms that they said they began to realize they'd been misled.
"I was so excited, so excited. I thought that at last, thanks to God, we were finally in the United States, but it was the opposite," Gonzalez said in Spanish. "They tricked us. They played with my emotions."
