Wayne DeMario never imagined that the immigration policies he supported at the polls would end up hitting his own home directly.
Eight months after his partner, of Cuban origin, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the small business owner from Miami-Dade claims he is living the worst moment of his life and regrets having voted Republican.
Amid tears, she made a public plea directed at President Donald Trump: “Please, bring her home! She doesn't deserve this. She's a very sweet person and she prayed for you,” she said in statements to Local 10.
Yamile Alcantu arrived in the United States 25 years ago from Cuba through the State Department's Visa Lottery program.
He built his life in the country, worked, paid taxes, and formed a two-decade relationship with DeMario.
However, in 2008 he received a deportation order following a traffic stop in which, according to his partner's account, the police found three Xanax pills in his bag.
“They searched her bag, emptied it, and three Xanax pills fell out,” DeMario explained.
Since then, Alcantu regularly presented himself to immigration authorities as part of his process. Each year he went to register without incidents, until last June.
That day, when she attended her routine appointment with ICE, she was detained.
"They grabbed her, put handcuffs and chains on her," DeMario reported, describing the moment as a "kidnapping."
She was first sent to a detention center in Jacksonville and then transferred to Louisiana, where she remains detained without having appeared before an immigration judge, according to her partner.
The Department of Homeland Security classifies it as "the worst of the worst," citing drug-related background.
Reports from Local 10 also indicate that he has other minor offenses in his background since the early 2000s.
For DeMario, none of that justified what is happening now.
He himself admits that he voted Republican in 2024 and supported the promise to tighten immigration policies. Today, however, his stance has changed radically.
“I didn't vote for this, but I definitely voted Republican”, he stated.
In his public Facebook account, he was more emphatic: “I am not a supporter of Trump. I vote for the Republicans. And I will never vote for them again.”
In another post, he wrote: "I am furious with this entire administration and with the whole government... I regret voting for that idiot. If people don't accept my apologies, they can go to hell. This isn't about my life; it's about theirs."
"She is my fiancée. She is the love of my life. She is my best friend; we live together, and I want to continue living with her for the rest of our lives," he wrote. "We need your help to protect Yyami and ensure she returns home safe and sound."
The couple's greatest fear is that Alcantu will be deported to Cuba, the country she emigrated from a quarter of a century ago and to which she no longer feels a strong connection.
“She is American at heart”, insists DeMario.
A threat of deportation and "mental torture"
The entrepreneur's anxiety has intensified in recent days.
On February 19, shortly after giving a television interview, he stated that his fiancée received an unexpected notice at the detention center.
"This is insane. Shortly after the interview with Channel 10 with me and Yyami, suddenly Yyami receives a message from ICE to pack her things because they're going to deport her tonight. They don't tell us where they're deporting her to, they don't tell us anything, not even what time they're picking her up. She has to have her things ready; it could be tonight, it could be tomorrow, but they're sending her somewhere in this world and we don't know where. This is disgusting. I'm so angry. You have no idea."
The next day, at dawn, he wrote again in the midst of insomnia and desperation.
"It seems to me that based on today's outcome, the power of evil is greater than that of good. I am so disappointed by this horrible hatred from our government and some Americans. The system and the American dream have let me down. And it has failed Yamile and me."
He celebrated the 25 years of Alcantu's presence in the United States.
“Her 25 years of becoming American and paying taxes, learning English and the ways of being American. She is American at heart. 25 years of her life here. More than she knows her own country of Cuba. She loves America and is proud to be here,” he pointed out.
In that same message, he launched a harsh criticism of the president: “I thought the last guy was bad. This one takes the cake for being a cruel idiot.”
Hours later, she posted another update that she described as “a horrible emotional rollercoaster ride.”
According to her account, after spending the night convinced she would be deported, the next morning a guard informed them that it had all been an administrative mistake.
“Last night we were told they were going to deport Yyami, pack her things. We were crying. I couldn't sleep all night. Total torture that night. (…) And the guard went to the computer and said: oh, you’re not supposed to be deported, it’s a mistake. They had taken her out of the system last night. She wasn’t in the system at all, so you couldn’t send her money, you couldn’t track her. And now suddenly it was a mistake. This is mental torture. It’s horrible. It’s disgusting. The only good thing about this is that she is still here,” he explained.
The economic and emotional cost
While Alcantu remains in detention, DeMario is facing an increasing financial burden. In his GoFundMe campaign, he explains that he needs to cover legal fees and expenses within the detention center.
"I even have to provide her with food and tampons. Clean clothes, and I also pay for a tablet so she can communicate with her family and with me. They charge us for everything. It's like a money pit for them," she claims in the petition, which has raised $17,765 so far, out of a goal of $30,000.
He has invested, as he stated, the “savings of his entire life” in the legal battle, while continuing to work at his store, Wayne’s Guitar World.
What began as a routine appointment with immigration turned into a prolonged detention, threats of deportation, and what he describes as "mental torture." It also resulted in a personal political rupture.
"I didn't vote for this," repeats the businessman who once trusted the promises of order and immigration control. Today, his priority is not politics, but bringing back home the woman with whom he has shared 20 years of life.
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