Cuban Woman with I-220B Detained After ICE Appointment in Florida

A Cuban woman, who entered the United States through the border and was granted an I-220B (Order of Supervision and Deportation) by a judge, was detained at her recent immigration appointment. She is now in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Miramar, Broward County, facing possible deportation to Cuba.

Yoselianys Rodríguez is married to a doctor, also from the island, who left a mission in Venezuela. Her husband, Ashley Cepero, is now a U.S. citizen. "When she arrived, they detained her. And they left her here in Broward, where we are," Cepero told Telemundo 51.

Regarding the trial in which his wife was given the I-220B, Cepero said, "They didn't defend her and didn't prepare her properly. She didn't know what to do, and unfortunately, we Cubans have a language barrier, so it was impossible."

"We've been together for three years, but we've been married for a year and a half. And as soon as we got married, we filed for family petition," revealed the husband, who has also met with local congressmen.

Now, Yoselianys faces the threat of deportation to the island she fled from, despite having a good record in the United States. Her case is similar to that of other Cubans who have faced the same situation. "It's very strange because there are people with crimes who are not deported to Cuba. And honest people who haven't committed any crimes are deported just because Cuba is accepting them," said immigration lawyer Antonio Ramos to the aforementioned television station.

This opinion was echoed a few days ago by Rosaly Chaviano, an attorney handling the case of another young Cuban detained and facing deportation to Cuba. "We know of so many people who have been in the United States for many years with serious crimes, and yet Cuba doesn't want them," the lawyer noted.

Chaviano also pointed out that they have observed a pattern in these deportations: the Caribbean island accepts recently arrived young people in the United States. "We haven't been officially told that this is a pattern, that they are doing it this way, but based on what we have seen, the people who have been deported recently, the years they entered, and their ages, this is what we understand," she pointed out.

Other Cubans Detained and Facing Deportation

This week, the case of Lisván Isidrón Cabrera, 26, came to light. He entered the United States in March 2021 through the border, won credible fear, but lost his political asylum case before immigration authorities. Now, he was detained by ICE after attending his immigration appointment.

"He has no one, he only has me and his brother. We have no one in Cuba. I don't know what would happen if they sent him back there," said his mother, Mirielzi Cabrera, in a tone of complete distress to Telemundo.

Last year, Dachel Caballero, another Cuban with I-220B, was detained by ICE just as he arrived at the place where he was to attend his immigration appointment. Caballero had entered the United States illegally four years ago. He lived with his wife and young son.

Another case was that of Francy Pérez, a Cuban who arrived in the United States by sea in October 2022. Pérez was released with an electronic ankle monitor, which requires regular reporting to ICE offices. He was detained when he attended one of these reports.

Luis Alberto Martínez, another Cuban in a similar situation, had better luck last year when the U.S. government temporarily suspended his extradition. "That is to say, my deportation is paused for a year, during which I have to continue the process with my lawyer until I can, God willing, obtain residency," he told journalist Eduardo Yusnaby Rodríguez of Telemundo 51.

Last month, the U.S. government conducted its fifteenth deportation flight to Cuba, returning 56 Cuban immigrants. "There have been 48 return operations, with 744 people from different countries in the region, both by air and sea," added the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) on X.