A surfer found himself in the unexpected situation of being detained by ICE after inadvertently entering a U.S. military base in Southern California while searching for the perfect wave.
Hagop Chirinian, a native of Lebanon, was apprehended on August 24 when he ventured roughly 100 yards into Camp Pendleton, as reported by KPBS.
Chirinian recounted that he had reached the beach with friends before dawn, only for an early-morning surf outing to drastically change his circumstances.
He revealed that ICE had attempted to deport him in 2005 after he lost his status as a legal permanent resident due to a felony drug charge.
Nonetheless, he managed to remain in the United States since Lebanese officials reportedly failed to provide his passport or birth certificate.
Placed under a supervision program, Chirinian insisted he adhered to its requirements, yet he claimed this did not influence the actions of the arresting officers.
Four months later, he remains in custody at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego.
‘ICE did not talk to me for the first two months,’ Chirinian told KBPS. ‘Nobody came and said a word to me.’
Hagop Chirinian, from Lebanon, was arrested on August 24 after wandering about 100 yards into Camp Pendleton while on an early morning surf trip
His girlfriend, Tambra Sanders-Kirk, said that Chirinian was ‘getting really depressed’ as he waited for his future to be resolved
Chirinian recalled how a planned surfing expedition in Oceanside went awry after he and his friends set up a tent near the shore.
‘The military police pulled up in their Jeep with their lights on and told us we are on a military base,’ he said.
The group was issued trespassing tickets – and asked if they were American citizens.
Chirinian informed the officers that he was not, which he claimed prompted them to call ICE.
The Lebanese national arrived in the US more than 50 years ago and was a legal permanent resident until 2005.
A drug conviction nearly got him deported then, but the effort was sidelined when his native government could not provide travel documents.
Chirinian allegedly explained that he was already enrolled in a supervision program with ICE that included two decades of regular check-ins and regularly updated personal information.
Chirinian said ICE tried to deport him in 2005 when he lost his legal permanent residency after a felony drug conviction (File photo of ICE agents)
Chirinian remains in custody at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego roughly four months after his arrest
However, he claimed that was not enough for an ICE agent on the scene.
‘He goes, ‘I know you’ve been reporting for 20 years, I know you reported three weeks ago, I’m still going to take you in’,’ Chirinian alleged the agent said.
One of the first people to learn about Chirinian’s arrest was Tambra Sanders-Kirk, his girlfriend of 18 years.
She initially ignored a call from a San Diego area code telephone number, thinking it was spam. But she listened to her voicemail, Sanders-Kirk immediately identified Chirinian’s voice.
‘I got picked up by ICE,’ she recalled him saying.
He pleaded: ‘I need to talk to you. Answer the phone when I call.’
Sanders-Kirk called the number back to check whether it was actually the agency.
‘It was,’ she said. ‘I waited and waited by the phone all night. He didn’t call back until the next day.’
Chirinian was arrested on August 24 after he crossed about 100 yards into Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton
Now, the couple is desperate for a resolution on Chirinian’s status. Sanders-Kirk described his mindset as ‘getting really depressed.’
She said: ‘He has no court hearing, he’s just sitting there doing nothing. There’s no resolution in the future.’
Sanders-Kirk added that hundreds of dollars had been personally spent on Chirinian’s detention to fund his meals and phone calls, which cost between $10 and $20 per week.
‘He had $500 when he first got there,’ she said. ‘That’s all gone, obviously.’
Chirinian’s girlfriend also spoke out against CoreCivic, the Tennessee-based private prison operator of the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
Sanders-Kirk said: ‘It’s ridiculous. They’re holding him for whatever reason and it’s costing everybody – every taxpayer money to hold him there.’
On December 19, Chirinian filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention, naming ‘acting or current’ ICE and Department of Homeland Security officials.
That included Attorney General Pam Bondi, ICE Director Todd Lyons and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
