Former Cuban leader denied having belonged to the Communist Party to travel to the U.S.

Manuel Menéndez Castellanos, former secretary of the Communist Party in the province of Cienfuegos and a former member of Fidel Castro's "coordination and support team," denied in a visa application interview for the United States that he had belonged to the Communist Party, but in a document application, he admitted it, downplaying that fact.

Based on that evidence, Cuban-American congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos A. Giménez, and María Elvira Salazar, along with the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Integrity, Security, and Immigration Compliance, Tom McClintock, sent a letter addressed to Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken.

The signatories request the intervention of the federal government and the provision of evidence in this case that has drawn the attention of the Cuban community residing in the United States due to the entry of a repressor of the Castro regime with all the benefits that U.S. residency allows, as stated in the letter shared on social media by Martí Noticias journalist Mario J. Pentón.

The letter refers to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which states that a foreigner is inadmissible as an immigrant if "he or she is or has been a member of or affiliated with the Communist Party, or another totalitarian party, national or foreign." Therefore, they request an explanation for the entry of Menéndez Castellanos.

In the document, the legislators state that "according to the records obtained by the Committee, in his immigrant visa application and when questioned by immigration officials, Menéndez Castellanos denied any affiliation."

However, "in a later immigration application document, Menéndez Castellanos admitted to having been a member of the Communist Party of Cuba, but downplayed that fact."

They add that "incredibly, according to records from the Biden-Harris Administration obtained by the Committee, the advanced background check on Menéndez Castellanos found no information that would make him inadmissible under the INA."

The former secretary of the Communist Party in Cienfuegos arrived on the afternoon of Thursday, August 15, at Miami International Airport.

The man tried to go unnoticed by wearing a cap, a sanitary mask, and glasses. He also arrived in a wheelchair and carrying a black briefcase on his lap, but he was confronted by journalist Mario J. Pentón.

Immediately, the Cuban community in exile was shocked and outraged upon learning of the arrival.

For this reason, in their letter, the congressmen express their dissatisfaction with the procedure carried out by the Biden-Harris administration regarding this case. If only "they had taken the time to conduct a simple five-minute internet search, they would have discovered the disturbing ties of Menéndez Castellanos with the Castro regime," they point out.

Under the protection of the Congressional Judiciary Committee of the United States, they demanded a historical overview of the case, including, but not limited to, the foreign national's immigration history, immigration benefit applications, immigration file or consular file (including all consular notes), and immigration detention status and history.

They also requested information about the time, date, and place of each and every entry from abroad to the United States.

Finally, they required an explanation of the failures in the verification that led to the Administration's lack of awareness of Menéndez Castellanos' affiliation with the Castro regime.

When asked about this case, a spokesperson for the State Department replied that "visa records are confidential under U.S. law. We do not discuss individual visa cases. All travelers to the United States are subject to an appropriate interagency security screening based on their nationality and the purpose of their travel," in a brief response to the request for a reaction to the allegations of ties to the Cuban government by Menéndez Castellanos.

The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FHRC) has identified a thousand Cuban repressors, of which 117 are said to have entered the United States in the last year (since February 2023), "many of them lying," said Tony Costa, director of the NGO, in statements reported by Martí Noticias.

With these numbers in hand, the foundation dedicated to identifying individuals who have violated human rights in Cuba estimates that the number of repressors from the Island entering the United States, circumventing established regulations, has increased fivefold, as they had documented about twenty of them and now it has reached 117. And this has been possible, they emphasize, in the context of an unprecedented migration wave.