He was deported back to his home country of Honduras earlier this week.
WCPO 9 spoke to Colindres over FaceTime on Saturday evening. He said he’s doing okay and said he’s happy to no longer be in jail.
“You were in there 22 hours in the cell doing nothing,” Colindres said. “That’s crazy, like that’s all like mentally draining.”
His family moved to the United States in 2014, seeking asylum after claims of gang activity against them in Honduras.
However, their asylum case was denied in 2023.
“To me, it was kind of more traumatizing because I haven’t been to my birth country in years,” Colindres said.
He said the experience of being detained and deported was exhausting.
“The whole flight I was handcuffed like we’re some big criminals or something like that,” Colindres said. “Mind you, a lot of people in there haven’t committed no crimes, like myself included.”
Colindres’ mother and sister weren’t detained when Colindres was, but they were told they had 30 days to leave the country.
Colindres said he expects them to join him in Honduras sometime next week.
“Hopefully I get to see them soon cause I really miss them a lot,” Colindres said.
During Colindres’ detainment at the Butler County Jail, dozens of friends, family and strangers protested his arrest outside of the jail.
“I realized that people really love me and really would do a lot of things for me,” Colindres said.
Even through all of this, Colindres said he feels blessed. He said he’s grateful he was able to return to Honduras safely.
“Things happen for a reason, just don’t lose faith in God and he knows best,” Colindres said.
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