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Sisters Mariana de la Caridad Fernández León and Yaneris Redondo León, demonstrators from July 11, were sentenced in Havana to 4 years of corrective labor and 7 years in prison, respectively, for the crimes of assault, contempt, and public disorder. Now, in the United States, both face "imminent risk" of being deported to Cuba by the Trump Administration, according to information shared on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by the profile Justicia 11J Detenciones por Motivos Políticos.
"We were put on trial and waited for the verdict to arrive. We thought everything would be fine, but in the end, nothing changed, and that's when we took action," recounts Mariana Fernández León in statements to AmericaTeVe after arriving in the United States.
Both sisters escaped from the Island on a raft and after a 16-hour journey, they reached American soil on November 13, 2022. The vessel, which left Cojímar with 42 people on board, ran aground in the Marquesas Keys (50 kilometers west of Key West). Mariana, who was 18 years old at the time of the protests, was hospitalized upon arrival after suffering a renal collapse. Her older sister, Yaneris Redondo, was detained and later released with an I-296 document, equivalent to an expedited deportation order but with the possibility to seek political asylum.
"Returning to Cuba would mean leaving them without life," admitted Yosima León, their mother, in tears during an interview with Telemundo51 following her two daughters' arrival in the United States. León lives in Miramar (Broward) and welcomed her daughters to live with her. Additionally, she sought legal advice from the prestigious firm of Willy Allen, a lawyer who answers Immigration questions for the CiberCuba audience every Monday at 11:00 AM (Miami time).
Now Mariana and Yaneris are at imminent risk of being returned to the Island where their sentences remain in effect, so they will certainly be taken off the plane and directly transported to prison. This, according to the profile of X from Justicia 11J, violates the principle of 'non-refoulement', which prohibits returning individuals to countries where they risk being persecuted, tortured, or subjected to inhumane or degrading treatment, even if their asylum application is denied.
For Justicia 11J, the situation is "extremely serious" and the threat of deportation is real "despite the documented risks—reprisals, re-incarceration, and multiple forms of mistreatment and torture—that the two sisters face if sent back to Cuba."
Since Justicia 11J, there has been an urgent call to the Government and the judicial and immigration systems of the United States to stop the attempted deportation of the two sisters.
"To international human rights organizations: activate international protection mechanisms. To the Cuban exile community and the international civil society: amplify this denunciation and lend your support. The cause of Mariana and Yaneris is legitimate. They have been consistent in their defense of Cuba's freedom. From exile, they have continued to denounce the human rights violations by the Cuban regime through media, marches, and public events, which further exacerbates their potential new detention in prisons on the Island."
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