Cuban forward Maikel Galindo, a member of the country's CONCACAF Gold Cup team, apparently has started the process to defect to the US, immigration officials confirmed on Wednesday.
Cuba played in Seattle last weekend, losing 4-1 to the US on July 7, and 3-1 to Costa Rica on Saturday.
Galindo was one of two players who did not show up for the team's Gold Cup game in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Tuesday night, a Spanish-language television station reported. Neither played and they could not be seen on the bench.
Galindo was interviewed on Monday by immigration officials in Seattle, who have placed him in immigration proceedings, said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Laguna Niguel, California.
"When he goes before the judge, he will explain to the judge whether or not he wants to stay in this country and what the basis of his claim is," Kice said on Wednesday.
The judge at that hearing will determine whether Galindo can stay in the US. If he is ordered deported, he can appeal through the federal court system.
The other Cuban player who failed to suit up on Tuesday, reserve goalkeeper Odelin Molina, has not approached immigration officials, Kice said.
Galindo is not being detained, she said. She was not sure if a date has been set for his hearing before immigration judge, but a copy of his notice to appear has been sent to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a division of the Justice Department near Washington.
Galindo's name could not be found in the Justice Department's database Wednesday, said Elaine Komis, a spokeswoman for the review office. That may be because the charging document or notice to appear had not yet arrived from the Northwest, she said.
Komis said she was familiar with the case because she received an e-mail about the Cuban soccer player earlier Wednesday.
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