The Cuban Elienay Estrada, mother of a baby just two months old, fears being deported in the coming days after receiving a new summons from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), just hours after attending her routine annual appointment at the office in Miramar, Florida.
In a video posted on TikTok, Elienay explained that since 2021, she has appeared annually without incidents before immigration authorities, under status I-220B. On June 11, she went as usual, submitted her documents, and received a new appointment for June 2026. “I left happy because given the current turmoil, they granted me one more year,” she recounted.
However, shortly after, while resting at her aunt's house in Miami, she received a notification via text message and email summoning her again for June 24. “What several lawyers are telling me, and I’ve grown tired of calling, is that it’s to deport me, to enforce the deportation,” she explained in her video.
"I am married to a permanent resident and I have a two-month-old baby."
During the appointment in Miramar, he recounted that the procedure was different from previous years. This time, he had to present himself before an officer behind a glass panel, to whom he handed over his papers and identification. As he described, upon checking his foreigner number, the officer found that there was a deportation order due to a denied asylum request.
She tried to explain that in 2019 she was returned to Mexico under the "Remain in Mexico" (MPP) program, and that she later re-entered without an appointment, which is why she was issued the I-220B. She also mentioned her family situation: "I told him that I am married to a permanent resident and have a two-month-old baby," but she assured that the officer "didn't pay much attention to me, or maybe he just typed it into the computer."
After that interaction, the agent gave him an appointment for a year later. But hours later, he received the summons for June 24. "Everything suggests that it's to carry out the deportation," he lamented.
Support and concern on social media
Elienay's testimony has generated a wave of reactions on social media. Hundreds of people have expressed their support and concern on TikTok. Some, like Ely Mangano, announced prayer chains for her. Others shared similar experiences and offered advice.
“That’s what happened with my husband; he wasn’t allowed to leave after the second date. Go with your daughter,” warned a user. There were also those who recommended not to attend, while the majority urged to keep the faith.
"We are living in a very difficult situation, extremely difficult. Just imagine being separated from my family, from my husband, and from my baby, who is so small, only two months old," Elienay expressed.
The case of Heydi Sánchez, a precedent that resonates
The situation of Elienay is reminiscent of the case of Heydi Sánchez Tejeda, a Cuban mother who was deported to Cuba on April 23 after attending a routine immigration appointment with ICE in Tampa. She was also under the I-220B status, and like Elienay, she was a mother to a minor, in her case, a year-and-a-half-old girl.
According to her husband, American citizen Carlos Yuniel Valle, Heydi was detained without prior notice during the appointment and deported three days later, despite having initiated a family reunification process two years earlier. The request was finally recently approved after the intervention of Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor, but that does not mean an immediate return.
“People think she will be here tomorrow, but that's not the case. This is the first step, but from now on, the battle begins,” Valle explained. Heydi needs to complete a lengthy process that includes three immigration pardons, including the one related to deportation, which bans her reentry to the United States for five years.
Filed under:
