Betsy S. and Irianna Gilimas are two Cuban mothers, one from Texas and the other from Florida, who are facing a challenging legal battle to secure legal status in the United States. Both have in common that they have been unable to benefit from the Cuban Adjustment Act despite meeting all the necessary requirements: they have a parole and have waited the year and a day to apply. They also share the fact that their applications have been processed by the same USCIS office in Spokane, Washington, which believes that entering with their minor children through the Mexico border makes them human traffickers and renders them ineligible for residency in the United States.
The cases of Betsy and Irianna are not an exception. There are eight other Cuban families who have been prevented from applying for the Cuban Adjustment Act and are currently facing smuggling charges for crossing the border with their children. Most of these denials have been signed by the same official in May 2024 (under the Biden Administration) and at the same office in Washington in April of this year, 2025.
In an interview with CiberCuba, Betsy S. expresses her regret over this situation, which leaves them in a migratory limbo and prevents them not only from benefiting from the Adjustment Act but also leaves them without work permits or driver's licenses. She insists that this situation is completely new, and lawyers are unsure how to address it. For this reason, although some of these families, like that of Irianna Gilimas, have brought the matter to the attention of Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar's office, they believe the solution lies in a law firm filing a lawsuit against USCIS for its very particular interpretation of the law.
"It is very unfair that you have done everything as it should be, that you have followed your processes correctly, that you have worked while you had a work permit as required, that you even pay taxes as you are supposed to, and that you are being judged in this way," points out Betsy S. in an interview given this Thursday to CiberCuba.
"The worst part is the uncertainty. I mean, I have faith and I trust that all of this will resolve, but in the meantime, what happens? That uncertainty, where you’re driving and, without meaning to, you’re doing everything right, but someone crashes into you or runs a red light and hits you. And when they ask you how your immigration status is, what do you say? No, I’m struggling because I was accused of being a smuggler. We have to focus on the positives. We can’t give up for our children and for ourselves, because we have to keep moving forward, as we say in good Cuban style. But it’s really tough and exhausting," he added.
Irianna Gilimas attempts to explain the legal web in which they have become entangled while seeking a better future for their family in the United States. It happens that her 5-year-old child with special needs did receive a Green Card, which USCIS denied to her and the child's father, as that particular office in Washington deemed them not to be parents but rather traffickers exploiting their own child.
For both mothers, returning to Cuba is not an option, and their greatest fear is that this decision by a specific official could leave at least ten Cuban families in a legal limbo, very similar to what many Central Americans face, who have been residing illegally in the United States for years.
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