Cristian Michel García Gil, a 24-year-old Cuban holding form I-220A, was released last Monday after five months in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The young Cuban was granted freedom after a judge approved a habeas corpus petition in his favor, according to a report by Noticias Univision 23 released this Wednesday.
Cristian arrived in the United States in July 2021 and was detained on December 12, 2025, during a traffic stop on Calle 8 in Miami while riding his motorcycle to work, despite having a valid work permit and driver's license.
"I do not have a criminal record in this country. I have always done things more than well," said journalist Javier Díaz, but currently that is not enough for someone who crossed the border illegally and has the I-220A document.
During the five months of detention, Cristian was moved through seven immigration centers.
"The moment of the arrest was complicated. I called my family and they couldn't believe it, no one believed it. It was very sad," he recalled.
Far from giving up, he worked in the kitchen of the detention center and made keychains out of soup carton boxes, which he sold for $10 each to cover calls to his loved ones, who also took on the payments for lawyers.
"My family always told me, 'Have faith, you will achieve it. As long as you are here with us, you will keep fighting,'" Cristian shared.
The young man lost his political asylum case, but he appealed the decision and the judge granted him habeas corpus, allowing him to leave with an electronic ankle monitor and reunite with his family at Miami airport.
His case adds to a series of releases of Cubans with I-220A through habeas corpus that have been recorded in recent months, although the outcomes are not always favorable: other compatriots have been deported.
The I-220A form is an ICE Supervision Order that allows migrants to remain on parole while their case is processed, but it does not grant legal status or access to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, the historic pathway to permanent residence.
It is estimated that around 400,000 Cubans in the United States find themselves in this migratory limbo, the majority of whom entered between 2021 and 2024.
Since the beginning of Trump's second administration, ICE has intensified the detentions of holders of this document, including arrests during routine appointments that were previously merely administrative.
In March 2025, at least 18 Cubans were arrested in South Florida in this context.
Other young Cubans have managed to be released from detention through the same legal means.
Daniel Alejandro Escobar Rodríguez was released in February after almost three months in detention, and Iván García Pérez, a 26-year-old nurse, was released in January through habeas corpus with a bail set at $1,500.
Cristian must report regularly to immigration while awaiting a judge's decision on whether his political asylum case appeal will proceed.
His message for the thousands of Cubans facing the same uncertainty was clear: "Do not give up, do not sign, because as long as you are on U.S. soil, there is an opportunity."
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