Dozens of Cuban migrants who remained detained by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), after a deportation order, were released this Thursday. Upon leaving the detention center, some of them expressed their joy and tranquility to the media.
Ricardo Acosta Chirinos, a Cuban immigrant, affirmed that he felt “great joy” and sent blessings to all those who helped in the process.
Some of these immigrants, after presenting themselves at the southern border between the United States and Mexico, they were taken into custody and taken to other detention centers for several weeks. Subsequently, transfer orders were issued to Florida, where at least 20 Cubans have been released under parole.
At the end of November, ICE mistakenly published on its website a list with more than 6,000 identities, nationalities and detention centers, corresponding to migrants who applied for asylum in the United States for alleged persecution in their home countries.
Then, in December, some names of possible deportees came to the attention of Havana officials, based on the data leak. These arguments were exposed in letters from the federal court addressed to the defendants.
The Cubans held captive celebrated the decision, as they feared for their lives if they returned to their homeland.
According to the Cuban Ismael Apiza, he prefers to “die, before returning to Cuba.”
In the middle of the celebration with his sister, Ismael recounted that, despite the stable conditions of his detention, the only thing he was informed about was his eventual return to his country…
“Everything they treated us about was deportation and deportation and no one was astonished by the things that happened to us because nobody gave us a light on anything, you understand,” Apiza sentenced.
For 70 days, relatives of those released had been in front of this immigration detention center located in Broward County, west of Miami. In vigil and in constant protest, they remained at the gates of the place, waiting for the good news.
“We were all looking forward to today because honestly there is no human being in life who deserves to be deprived of their freedom,” said a relative of a released migrant.
At least another 30 Cubans, with similar conditions, remain detained in federal facilities in Texas.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and instagram.
