I know a lot of baseball players defect from Cuba to play in the MLB but what exactly is the process? Obviously you have to find a way out of the country but what happens once you reach the new country? Are you just able to get residency? Do you claim asylum or something?
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Defecting is different from immigration or asylum in that the is some strategic or political benefit to the country being defected to, and probably some downside to the country the defector is leaving.
In your baseball player example, Cuba loses face because a high profile player clearly doesn’t want to live there. While America gains publicity implying it is so much a better place than Cuba.
Other examples of defecting may include a secret agent switching sides, a scientist bringing nuclear secrets to another country, or a politician taking refuse in a formal rival country. Since each case of defection is fairly unique, it isn’t appropriate to apply just one standard defecting procedure to all of them. Most often the terms of defection are negotiated with the receiving country on a case by case basis.
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