Cuban content creator Astry (@aleagaastry0) shared in a video published on her social media how she was deported to Cuba after spending several years in the United States with a deportation order under category I-220B.
“I was a I-220B case. Since 2020, I have had a
It is a program created by the Trump Administration and coordinated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that allows migrants to leave the country voluntarily.
However, she claims that before the deadline they had given her, she was summoned again and detained by immigration authorities.
“They told me they would give me 90 days to voluntarily leave the United States, but before the 90 days were up, they called me in again and told me they were going to imprison me. I want you to understand that I am an I-220B, not an I-220A,” Astry explained.
The young woman pointed out that many Cubans in the United States fear being deported. Once they are detained, they go through a long and exhausting process.
“The Cubans take a long time to be returned to our country of origin because Cuba only has one flight a month and there are a lot of people waiting. I was detained for three months waiting for my deportation,” she said.
Astry also described the conditions inside the immigration detention centers. "The transfers are really ugly; you spend days without drinking water, without eating, without sleeping, they treat you... it's better if I don't even tell you," she lamented.
In his testimony, he also wanted to clarify that having relatives who are U.S. citizens does not prevent deportation.
"It doesn't matter if they have American citizen children or claims. In my case, my husband is an American citizen, but that doesn't matter. When you have a deportation order, it counts for nothing," she stated.
The young woman concluded her message by advising those undergoing similar migration processes. “If you have the opportunity to prevent an arrest, try to avoid it because it’s very difficult in the detention center.”
Astry was deported to Cuba, but the rest of her family stayed in the United States, particularly her husband and son. She recently managed to reunite with them when they visited her during vacation. Now she faces a lengthy process of family reunification, with no clear date for them to be together again.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continuously reiterates its "invitation to undocumented migrants" to take advantage of the voluntary self-deportation program “Project Return Home,” promoted in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office.
This initiative offers a "simplified and incentivized" alternative for leaving the United States without facing detention or forced removal processes, aiming to alleviate the congestion in the immigration system and facilitate safe and orderly departures for foreigners with active deportation orders.
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