Thursday, December 31, 2015
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Texas teen known for using an "affluenza" defense in a fatal drunken-driving accident is at a Mexico City immigration detention center in one of the capital's poorest areas, where he will likely spend weeks, if not months, as he appeals deportation.
A Mexican immigration official said today a judge has agreed to hear arguments on the affluent young man's appeal, a process that could take weeks or months. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he or she was not authorized to be quoted by name.
In the meantime, Ethan Couch is in the Agujas immigration detention center, where the official said he will have no special privileges such as the ones high-profile criminals can sometimes buy in Mexican prisons.
Couch's wealthy upbringing may not prepare him for the center's common sleeping areas and bathrooms, and concrete wash basins for hand-washing clothes.
The white-washed, high-fenced facility usually houses several dozen immigrants, mainly Central Americans.
Couch will sleep on a cot or bunk in a semi-open bedroom shared with two or three other detainees.