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)