Lawyer says self-deportation is a serious mistake
Two Cubans who had an I-220A document made the drastic decision to return to Cuba for fear of being deported. The story was revealed by journalist Javier Díaz, from Univision, who shared the appearance of a lawyer who described the action as a “terrible mistake.”
The lawyer explained that, in the case of having a pending asylum application, leaving the country without an immigration permit is equivalent to abandoning the asylum process. The couple, whose identity has not been revealed, expressed their fear of being transferred to the Guantanamo naval base, after the US authorities reported the relocation of 30,000 illegal immigrants to that site.
This type of decision they made could mark a trend among migrants who, faced with uncertainty and the lack of legal status, choose to return to Cuba in the hope of finding a new opportunity to settle in the United States in the future.
The situation of Cubans with I-220A in the US has become a matter of growing concern. Currently, hundreds of thousands of Antilleans with this document fear being deported due to the new immigration policies implemented by the Donald Trump administration. The Cuban community has requested special treatment, arguing that their situation should not be generalized with that of other irregular immigrants.
The I-220A is a Parole Order granted to certain immigrants who were detained at the border and later released. However, this document is not considered a parole for the purposes of the Immigration Courts, which prevents Cubans from applying for permanent residence through the Cuban Adjustment Act. This leaves them in legal limbo, with political asylum as their only option for protection.
The affected Antilleans have held protests in Washington and Miami demanding that the government recognize their situation and provide a solution.
(Source: TRC)
Following the new immigration policies, Cubans with I-220A fear being deported while waiting for asylum hearings. The Adjustment Act does not guarantee residency.
Cuban migrants who received an I-220A upon arriving in the United States are afraid and uncertain about what will happen to their lives after the new provisions adopted by the Trump administration.
The document grants them a temporary stay permit in the country while they resolve their legal situation, but many are not sure that it will be enough to avoid deportation.
Yunior Luis Pino Pérez, a participant in the 11J protests, received an I-220A after crossing the border through Mexico. He lives in Miami, where he requested political asylum. This year he has a second hearing to defend his case before the immigration court, but until then he fears being deported.
"My life is in danger in Cuba, after being blackmailed and forced into exile. I simply cannot return," he told Martí Noticias.
Another case is that of Dayvel Álvarez, who arrived in July 2022 and requested asylum shortly after. After a year and a day, he requested residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act. He still has no response from any process.
"I only received the work permit. I am waiting, that is stopped, when I review the case, I still do not have a court date," he said.
Oscar Casanella's story is different. He is a political activist who in Cuba lived harassed and threatened by State Security, especially after the San Isidro Movement was quartered in Old Havana in 2020.
In 2022, he crossed the border with his young son and his pregnant wife. He handed over all the documentation that proved they were a family so that they would not be separated. However, each was given separate documents and did not have an interview.
"We wanted them to do the credible fear interview, we tried that, but they released us with the I-220A without being able to explain that we were politically persecuted," he lamented.
Casanella, a biochemical scientist, applied for political asylum and this year he must have his first court date.
His greatest fear after the new US immigration policy is that "general measures are applied, not case by case analysis, and people who have solid political asylum fall into the same bag as other people."
For many, it is almost a mystery to understand what criteria immigration officers follow at the border to grant an I-220A form or parole. There are families that entered together and their members received different treatment.
According to The Associated Press in 2022, the Border Patrol chose to grant parole because it was a faster process and did not have conditions in the detention centers to receive the avalanche of migrants.
Some Cubans with the I-220A obtained residency by applying for the Cuban Adjustment Act. But in 2023, the United States Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) rejected the option of considering the form as a way to access legal residency, which pushed Cubans to request political asylum.
Thousands of them, who arrived between 2017 and 2024, are in immigration limbo, waiting for their cases to be heard in an immigration court, and according to some lawyers, they could remain like this for years due to the increase in applications.
Note: The Trump administration could tighten immigration policies and increase deportations, posing a significant risk to Cubans with I-220As. While this document offers a certain level of protection, it does not guarantee safety from more restrictive policies.
(Source: cibercuba.com)
Venezuelans in US have 60 days before facing threat of deportation; local Venezuelan leader in Miami speaks out
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the United States now have about 60 days before they face the threat of deportation after the Trump administration terminated Temporary Protected Status for them.
This most recent escalation of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration eliminates the right to stay of more than 300,000 people.
The move comes as a one-two punch for Venezuelans who were already reeling from last week’s decision to rescind an 18-month extension of TPS, an extension introduced in the final days of the outgoing Biden administration.
Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the Trump administration’s decision to terminate TPS for thousands of Venezuelans.
“Well, the TPP program has been abused, and it doesn’t have integrity right now,” said Noem. “We are ending that extension of that program, adding some integrity back into it, and this administration is evaluating all of our programs to make sure they truly are something that’s to the benefit of the United States, so that they’re not to the benefit of criminals.”
The decision will affect more than 300,000 Venezuelans who had TPS through April. It gives them just 60 days before becoming vulnerable to deportation.
The New York Times reported that another group of more than 250,000 people protected through September will not be affected — for now.
“Right now, we need to do something to stop that decision, because for us, it’s a reason of living or dying,” said Jose Colina with the organization “Venezolanos Perseguidos Políticos en el Exilio.”
The revocations of TPS are certain to have profound effects in Florida, which has the largest number of TPS beneficiaries out of any state, more than half of whom are from Venezuela.
“All people from Venezuela are very sad, right? Very ‘be careful,’ you know, because I don’t know what’s going on with this situation,” said Colina. “A lot of people are in danger right now.”
All of this comes just days after Venezuela had agreed to take back migrants deported from the U.S., following a meeting between President Nicolás Maduro and senior Trump administration official Richard Grenell.
Friday’s meeting also led to the release of six U.S. detainees held in the South American country.
As for Sunday’s decision, hundreds of thousands of people are now faced with an uncertain future.
“We are not numbers, we are human beings,” said Colina. “You know, working, good jobs, follow the law. Why [do they] now make a decision that’s very bad for 600,000 people living in the United States?”
(Source: Cable News Network, Inc. & NY Times)