Out of love and fear of deportation, a Cuban with an I-220A and his Mexican wife decided to leave behind the life they had built in the United States and start anew outside the country.
The decision, painful, brave, and filled with uncertainty, was shared by the young Mexican in a video that has moved thousands on TikTok.
“My husband is a Cuban with an I-220A, and we have decided to leave the country. Making this decision has not been easy at all,” confessed the young woman identified as @sol_politico at the beginning of September.
She recounted that after eight years of living in the United States, having completed her education and built a stable life, she had to pack everything to accompany her partner and avoid a forced separation.
Her husband, Jaziel, reported that he left Cuba in 2022 and was released by immigration with an I-220A, a document that places thousands of Cubans in legal limbo: they do not have a defined immigration status, but they are also not considered immediately deportable.
"From the very beginning, we tried to fix my situation. We applied for the Cuban Adjustment Act, but to this day, nothing has been resolved. We have spent thousands of dollars, and the only thing we have achieved is a deportation process," he lamented.
For him, returning to Cuba was not an option. “In Cuba, I suffered from malnutrition, political persecution, and arrests. I was disappeared at 15, thrown into an adult prison just for being the child of an oppositionist,” he recalled. “I am not willing to live through that again.”
The couple explained that they decided to leave the country before the deportation order arrived. “I don’t want to be stressed all the time, not knowing how my husband is doing in Cuba, whether he will be arrested or mistreated,” she said.
"We have built an entire life here through a lot of effort and honor, but we would rather start from scratch together than live apart," he added.
A month after her departure, the young woman shared from Mexico that it was the best decision they could have made. “I was afraid of starting from scratch. I only knew how to be an adult in the United States, because that’s where I studied, worked, and had my life. But Mexico has welcomed me with open arms and has reminded me that everything can be learned again,” she stated.
Although he acknowledges that the process has been tough, he assures that they are facing it with hope. “We are resilient people. I have a very strong woman, and we know that everything will go as God intends,” said the Cuban in the video that marked their farewell to the country where they dreamed of building their future.
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