B2 Visa Holder-- developmental disabilities and CBP

[Pennycat 880]

My husband's brother and sister (who got B2 visas in January) were planning a trip to visit us over Memorial Day and long story short, sister is no longer coming. Brother is 19 years old and has developmental disabilities, mild enough that we think it's fine for him to make the trip himself, but serious enough that we're worried about him alone with CBP. He doesn't speak English and I think that if anything goes in the direction of "bad", I don't think he'd begin to know how to navigate it.

 

Any input? Overthinking? Bad idea for him to fly alone? Anything the airline or airport can do to assist?

[databit 328]

Ask yourselves: 

Would it upset him to be searched? Touched? Have personal items possibly taken away from him? Any fear of flying, air turbulence? Claustrophobia? Can he sit still for hours? Is he okay being pressed by a crowd? Sitting close to strangers?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Hard to say whether you are overthinking it, it depends on his personality and disability.

You could call your airline and ask if they have something like the Unaccompanied Minor program but for developmentally delayed adults.  Also make sure he has a few cards with common questions and answers in his language and English, both for CBP and things like where the bathroom is, and also your name and phone number (presumably you'll be waiting for him).

[Lemonslice 4,841]

You can prepare a letter in English and his mother tongue with basic details on his trip; print a couple copies, keep one with his passport.  Name, flight details, who he is visiting, duration of stay, your contact details should they need to reach you, mention of his disabilities if he is comfortable to disclose them.  

[Pennycat 880]

Thanks all, these are good suggestions. He's flying Southwest non-stop (they serve San Jose, Costa Rica which has been a real boon for us) and it looks like they've got something in which the gate agent (who will speak Spanish) will introduce him to the flight attendants (who very well may not). I do think that he can handle the basics in the airport in Costa Rica and on the airplane, so that's not a concern.

 

Just the CBP part has me a bit worried just in case they somehow think he's here to stay, and an unpleasant chain of events starts. But the list of questions and answers is a good one, we'll be in the terminal waiting for him and he'll have those numbers etc. Do you think that if something difficult starts to happen (taken to secondary etc) that CBP digs up a Spanish speaker before any sort of custody/deportation?

 

I'm SO upset with sister-in-law over all this. It's really unfair to the brother. What's her issue? Oh, she couldn't possibly come without her boyfriend. Who doesn't have a visa. Trip is in three weeks. My husband specifically wanted them to come for Memorial Day because of Rolling Thunder (huge into motorcycles, this family), to the point that we're paying for the flight(s) (not my favorite use of my points, but I can think of worse ones and he's wanted this to happen for a year now, and they just couldn't get the money together).

 

She also wouldn't accept the offer to buy her ticket, and if the boyfriend gets a visa in time, he's welcome to join (paying his own way) and if not, she can come and he can come another time. She wants to wait to see if boyfriend gets a visa and THEN we buy a ticket. Or maybe she comes later in the summer. Nope and nope. The ticket prices will go up (we got $299 round trip!) and we've got our own plans for our time later in the summer that do not include yet-another grand tour of DC for visitors (I've lived here my whole adult life. I'm beyond finished with the tourist spots), and plus who takes an offer of a gift (offered for Husband's own reasons) and tries to dictate the terms? The whole reason we're willing to burn these points is to get Husband the visit he's been wanting. And then leaves your younger brother in the position to fly alone or miss out on HIS gift? Gah. Sorry. I had to vent. 

[Pennycat 880]

Oh and for what it's worth, I don't know what his condition is, if there is a true diagnosis (I heard MIL refer to it as ADHD which, ok, maybe he's got that too but there is definitely something else going on as well). He went to and continues to go to a special school and receives disability social security, but he takes mainstream martial arts classes and does well in them. He navigates his city alone, is able to be home alone. He randomly texts me with phrases from his English homework which is sweet, but I don't think any of it gets through and "sticks". He just seems to exercise really bad judgement and is easily "tricked" for lack of a better word (lying about having been the one to break the TV even though it's in his room and he was the only person home at the time; was tricked by a relative into giving out MIL's debit card number which resulted in the predictable). He was born prematurely and obstetrics/maternity/neonatal care there is not quite the best now (and certainly wasn't 19 years ago) and there were complications, generally. Not sure what kind.