Cubans gathered in the vicinity of the Krome detention center to demand the release of detained Cuban migrants. They fear their deportation is imminent and are hopeful after the Supreme Court’s decision to leave the Joe Biden administration’s deportation priorities in effect.
They returned to Versailles on Sunday, one of their meeting points in recent weeks. They came with banners for the release of political prisoners, against the dictatorship and to ask for a definitive solution to their I-220A cases or request to stop the deportations of Cubans with I-220B.
Among them, Yoan Vega, who remarks: “I’m already thinking that tomorrow three will go to the shackle appointment.” The young man crossed the border in 2019 and after 23 months in custody in Georgia, he was released with an I-220B. He tells us that several of his acquaintances in the same situation have been detained by ICE in recent weeks.
“All the guys that I know who are there are good people. I don’t even have a transit ticket, my credit is super good because that’s why we came to this great country, to get going,” Vega defends himself.
Last week, the Supreme Court left in force a Biden administration strategy that prioritizes deportations of migrants with criminal records or who pose a risk to public safety. Relatives of Cubans currently detained hope that this will change things regarding the deportation of Cubans.
The lawyer specialized in immigration, Miguel Inda Romero, explains that “if they determine that the Cubans are still a priority for it, why yes… it says the memo of (Alejandro) Mayorkas but they can change the priority because they are in total control.”
The lawyer says that although victory cannot yet be declared, there is an undoubtedly favorable point here. “That decision helps lawyers make an argument of: ‘They are not a priority. Why are they being deported’ and also help for deportation strikes, people who are in that process whose case could be closed.”
Some 225 Cubans have been deported to Havana in the last three flights, with more free seats than occupied, for many it has been basically a message.
“I don’t imagine that the government wants to give the impression that whoever arrives now is protected by law, because whoever arrives now could think: ‘Oh, they’re not going to deport anyone unless they have a crime’ and that’s not it’s reality”.
