Cuban I-220A detained in Texas while driving for Lyft

The hardline immigration policies implemented by Donald Trump during his second term have once again impacted the Cuban community in the United States.

This time, the victim was Yasmani Guía Pablo, a Havana native who made a living as a Lyft driver in Texas and held an I-220A, an administrative document that has allowed thousands of Cubans to remain in the country while they await a determination of their legal status.

Guía was arrested in Williamson County, in Georgetown, while he was working.

His wife Elizabeth, a U.S. citizen, reported that the detention was marked by abuses and racist undertones.

According to journalist Javier Díaz from Univisión, a police officer falsely accused her of being intoxicated, a claim she immediately denied as she was speaking with him on the phone at the time of the arrest.

"She claims that her husband Yasmani is Christian and writes music for his church, stating that he does not consume any substances or alcohol," Díaz detailed on Facebook.

The woman is requesting an investigation to prevent the Cuban from being unjustly deported.

On his Facebook profile, Guía Pablo presents himself as a musician, singer, author, and songwriter.

Now the young man is facing the threat of deportation, years after having entered the United States illegally to try to rebuild his life outside of his country, which has been ruled by a dictatorship for more than six decades.

A pattern of persecution against Cubans with I-220A

Yasmani's case is not isolated. In recent months, there has been a surge in the detention of Cubans with I-220A immigration status, victims of a political shift that criminalizes even those without a criminal record who fulfill their obligations.

Just weeks ago, the case of Rogelio Lázaro González Moya became known, a 26-year-old Cuban detained in June in Miami after attending his first immigration hearing.

Since his arrest, he passed through detention centers in Florida, Texas, and Arizona, eventually being held in Eloy, Arizona. According to his family, he was shackled during long transfers, subjected to extreme temperatures in cells known as "freezers," and denied adequate food.

Another case is that of a young Cuban resident in Phoenix, arrested as she was leaving work despite having a valid work permit.

After a month in a detention center, she was released with an electronic bracelet, a measure that illustrates just how far current policy punishes individuals who are simply awaiting the approval of their residency.

Likewise, journalists have reported multiple operations at immigration hearings in Miami, where dozens of Cubans with I-220A have been arrested upon exiting their interviews.

The political background

The tightening of these measures is a direct response to Donald Trump's immigration crusade, as he has promised to curb illegal immigration upon his return to the White House.

However, in practice, the repression falls on migrants seeking to legalize their status.

In the case of Cubans with I-220A, they are seeking to take advantage of the Cuban Adjustment Act, a historical mechanism that acknowledges the situation of migrants from the Island as victims of a dictatorial regime.

Far from being delinquents, many work, pay taxes, and patiently await their hearings.

For them, every raid, every arbitrary detention, and every threat of deportation is nothing more than a reminder that, despite fleeing repression in Cuba, they can still be pursued under a immigration system that denies them stability.

The Cuban community in the United States watches with growing fear as cases like that of Yasmani Guía Pablo become commonplace.

His future, like that of thousands of compatriots with open cases, is now in the hands of an immigration system that seems more concerned with demonstrating strictness than with delivering justice.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Detention of Cubans with I-220A in the United States