Eduardo Núñez González, a 60-year-old Cuban arrested in Miami while taking out the trash in front of his house, has told his family that he would rather be deported than continue enduring the inhumane conditions of the detention center where he is held.
After being detained by immigration agents on March 20, he was transferred to the Torrance County jail in New Mexico, where, according to his relatives, he is chained, isolated, and without medical care, as reported by the Miami Herald.
Núñez was arrested without warning while taking out the trash at his home in North Miami, a moment captured by surveillance camera as he was handcuffed from behind.
His wife, Vilma Pérez Delgado, stated that she was not allowed to say goodbye to him or to hand over his Spanish passport.
Both, Cuban citizens with Spanish nationality, arrived in the U.S. from Spain in 2014 and applied for residency in 2015 under the Cuban Adjustment Act.
While her residency was quickly approved and she obtained citizenship in January 2025, Núñez was denied the green card in 2022 after seven years of waiting.
The family resubmitted the application in 2023 with all updated documentation, including clean criminal record certificates from Cuba, Spain, and the U.S., but they never received a response, and only 18 days before the arrest, they received the official letter of denial.
Initially, Núñez was taken to the Krome detention center, where he spent three days without bathing or changing clothes, sleeping on the floor of a room crowded with detainees.
He was then transferred to the Broward Transition Center, where he was able to access a bed, but before his wife could visit him, he was sent in the middle of the night, handcuffed and shackled, to New Mexico.
According to his wife, he was not informed where he was being taken, nor whether he would be deported to Cuba, Spain, or another destination.
In Torrance, it is reported that he remains chained at the waist 24 hours a day, and is only allowed one hand to be free so he can take the phone and speak with his family.
According to Pérez, Núñez does not receive visitors, has no access to the outside world, and does not know whether it is day or night. Despite suffering from chronic bronchitis, he has not received medical attention.
The family has formally requested his deportation to Spain, where his daughter and grandchildren live, and they are willing to pay for the ticket.
"In this tragedy, we as a family decided that the best thing is to deport him to Spain," said his wife to the Miami Herald.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that Núñez González is under a final deportation order and will remain in custody until his departure from the country, the news portal reported.
Attorney Rebeca Sánchez-Roig of Catholic Legal Services in Miami noted that a seven-year wait for a adjustment application is excessive and often indicates serious issues within the case file or administrative errors.
Pérez claims that her husband's file was lost by immigration and that on one occasion he was summoned for an interview that had to be postponed because the file could not be found.
Despite being detained, Núñez remains in contact with the employees of the family business they both founded in 2018: a small towing company called Chaveli Towing.
His wife, now alone at the helm of the business, describes him as a hardworking man, supportive, and deeply committed to his family.
“He is my best friend,” she said, and she affirmed that she is willing to follow him wherever he is deported. Her Christian faith and the support of her community sustain her in the midst of this difficult situation.
Since the beginning of March 2025, ICE actions against Cuban citizens in the United States have intensified as part of a stricter immigration policy.
On March 27, a flight with Cubans deported from the U.S. landed in Cuba. This marked the continuation of a flow that, according to official sources, maintains a pace similar to that of the Biden administration, always depending on the explicit authorization of the Cuban government for each return.
Days later, on March 30, the case of a Cuban detained at the Krome facility in Florida came to light, in which he reported being seriously ill and without medical care, which intensified public pressure regarding the conditions of ICE detention centers.
In his testimony, the man stated, "I am dying," which raised significant concern among human rights organizations and the Cuban migrant community.
Already in April, on the 6th, ICE was once again at the center of the debate for arresting a young Cuban on his birthday, separating him from his minor child, with whom he lived in Miami. The arrest occurred during a routine check, leaving the minor in the care of family friends.
The incident sparked criticism regarding the sensitivity of immigration authorities to the social impacts of their operations.
Two days later, a less common turn of events occurred when ICE released an elderly Cuban, who had also been arrested in a recent operation.
The man had been detained for more than a week, under conditions similar to those reported by other detainees, which suggests that the agency occasionally responds to complaints and accumulated social pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Arrest of Eduardo Núñez González and ICE Immigration Policies
Why was Eduardo Núñez González arrested in Miami?
Eduardo Núñez González, a Cuban citizen with Spanish nationality, was arrested by immigration agents while taking out the trash in front of his house in Miami. The exact reasons for his arrest have not been clearly explained by the authorities, and his family has reported that his rights were not read to him at the time of the arrest.
What are the detention conditions of Eduardo Núñez at the Torrance center?
Eduardo Núñez is in conditions that his family describes as inhumane: he is chained at the waist 24 hours a day, without access to the outside, and not receiving adequate medical attention despite suffering from chronic bronchitis.
Why does Eduardo Núñez prefer to be deported to Spain?
Given the inhumane conditions at the detention center, Eduardo Núñez has expressed his wish to be deported to Spain, where his family resides. His wife has formally requested his deportation to Spain and they are willing to pay for the ticket, seeking to avoid the suffering he is currently facing.
What has been Eduardo Núñez's immigration process in the United States?
Eduardo Núñez and his wife arrived in the United States from Spain in 2014 and applied for residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act in 2015. While his wife's residency was quickly approved, Núñez was denied the green card in 2022 after a seven-year wait and administrative issues with his file.
How has current immigration policy impacted the cases of detention of Cuban immigrants?
The current immigration policy of the Trump administration has intensified the detention and deportation of Cuban immigrants, including those with documents such as the I-220A that were previously considered exempt from deportation. This situation has raised significant concerns within the Cuban community in the U.S., due to the tightening of policies and the lack of clear pathways to legalization.
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