Immigration attorney Willy Allen categorically denied this week the statements made by former Cuban-American congressman Joe García, who claimed that the deportation of up to 500,000 Cubans to the Island was on the table in negotiations between Washington and Havana.
Allen, who claims to have known García for over thirty years — they met at rowing championships where their children competed — stated that the former congressman is mixing information about the Cuban migration situation and confusing different scenarios.
"I am convinced that he was thinking about what is happening and mixing two things. What is happening right now with the Cubans in the United States, with the I-220-A, with the paroles, with other issues, and the pause that exists," Allen stated.
According to the lawyer, García seems to be confusing the current immigration situation of Cubans in the United States with statements from the governor of Florida about the eventual return of Cubans when the island is free, as well as information that García possesses through his contacts in Cuba.
"I have no doubt that he has contacts within Cuba. I don't, but he does. Who knows what he has gotten mixed up in," Allen pointed out.
To illustrate the impossibility of the scenario described by García, Allen used a striking comparison: "There’s a greater chance that Martians will land in my office in the next 15 minutes than that there is a plan to deport 500,000 Cubans to the island. It’s not real."
The lawyer supported his argument with concrete figures. Citing data from journalist Wilfredo Cancio, Allen explained that between 2017 and 2024, more than 1.2 million Cubans entered the United States through various means: border, humanitarian parole, CBP One, and family reunification.
Of that universe, between 500,000 and 600,000 have not yet been able to regularize their situation: about 500,000 have the I-220A document and nearly 200,000 entered with humanitarian parole or CBP One.
However, Allen emphasized that all those Cubans have the right to legalize their status under the Cuban Adjustment Act, in effect since 1966, and that this law "is not going anywhere, it will not be eliminated."
The lawyer also noted that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is "dragging its feet" deliberately in the legalization processes to instill panic and keep more people in irregular status, a thesis supported by an article from the Cato Institute that he mentioned in his analysis.
Regarding actual deportations, Allen specified that since January 2026, Cuba accepts one flight per month with between 160 and 180 deportees, a pace that has been maintained for over a year, and the new development is that these flights now include convicted criminals for serious offenses.
To illustrate the logistical impossibility of mass deportation, Allen recalled that the Flights of Freedom took seven years to bring just 200,000 Cubans to the United States. "Math, math, even though I'm not good at it, doesn't lie," he stated.
Regarding Cubans with I-220A who face obstacles to legalizing their status, Allen is confident that the lawsuits in federal courts will progress inexorably. "It’s like the passage of the Elephants of Cienfuegos. It’s going to be overwhelming and we will win. It doesn’t matter if one or two judges want to deny it. They will be legalized."
Neither government —neither Washington nor Havana— has officially confirmed the figure of 500,000 or the existence of a mass deportation agreement, according to América TeVé's report covering García's original statements.
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