A Cuban woman identified on TikTok as @nayleenonishango reported this week that she spent nearly eight months confined in a detention center run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), from which she was released thanks to a habeas corpus petition filed by her lawyer.
According to her testimony, she was arrested in September 2025 during a routine immigration appointment, after nearly five years living in the country. "I went to my regular appointment, my regular check-up after almost five years in this country and ICE detained me," she explained in the video.
The woman was transferred to a detention center located in what she calls "Carnet City" and remained there until just a few days ago. "On May 16, she would have completed eight months detained by ICE," she specified.
His release came through legal means. "My lawyer filed my habeas corpus. And here I am again in the United States, free," he stated.
During her confinement, she shared a room with seven other women. According to her account, none of them were deported: "All the people who were inside with me are now outside. None of them were deported."
The Cuban identifies as a practitioner of the Rule of Ocha and attributes her strength and liberation to her faith. In her video, she also dispelled the common belief that practitioners consecrated in this religion are shielded from adversities. "No one has power over us except God. Our guardian angels, our orishas, God, all the ones who accompany us, those are the ones who have power over us," she asserted.
Despite the harshness of the experience, she described it as transformative. "When you are about to lose everything, you start to appreciate what truly matters," she said. And she concluded with a message of relief: "Thank God the nightmare is over. It wasn't the best scenario, but it truly was a unique and incredible experience."
The case adds to a long list of Cubans detained during regular immigration appointments under the policies of the Trump administration. A 79-year-old Cuban woman was detained by ICE for nine months before being released in February 2026, while a high-risk pregnant Cuban woman was arrested during a routine appointment in San Antonio, Texas, in October 2025.
Habeas corpus has become the main legal mechanism to challenge these detentions. A young Cuban with an I-220A form was released after nearly three months through this resource, and another Cuban detained for five months also regained his freedom by the same means last week.
Also, the Cuban opposition figure Elionay González Crespo was released after ten months detained by ICE, arrested in June 2025 and released in April 2026.
ICE reported 15,487 arrests of Cuban immigrants during fiscal year 2025, a 200% increase compared to the previous year, as part of the maximum immigration pressure policy driven from Washington.
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