A Cuban woman identified as Débora (@soydeborah97) returned voluntarily to Cuba after four years in the United States, according to a video she posted on TikTok in May 2026. The reason that drove her to make this decision was fear: she received a summons to present herself on a Saturday with all her documents before an immigration authority, and it terrified her.
"My story is a bit sad because I was I-220A, and we had a very bad situation. When I had the appointment at that place—I can't mention the name—they told me that I had to come back another day, which would fall on a Saturday, and that I needed to bring all my documents. I got scared, so I decided to go back," Débora explained in the video.
Debora returned to Cuba with her two-year-old daughter, who is an American citizen. She currently lives in Pratacúe, at her mother's house, while she prepares her own home. “I still need to paint the windows and the doors. But little by little, one day at a time because everything can't be done at once,” she shared.
The move from the United States was expensive and exhausting. "Imagine moving from there to here, with a baby and me," she said. Her husband, who also has an I-220A, remains in the U.S. waiting to assess how his situation develops before making a similar decision.
Débora acknowledged that she can no longer return to the United States and that she is working on obtaining Cuban citizenship for her daughter, who entered the island without any issues by presenting all her documents in order. To support herself financially, she creates content on TikTok from Cuba: “Here I am trying to make videos to create content and get myself known in the world, so that this can be my job, because from here I am a full-time mom.”
The I-220A is an order of supervised release issued by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that allows a person to remain outside of detention while their immigration case is still pending. It does not equate to permanent residency, is not a parole or a legal admission, and courts have determined that it does not guarantee access to the Cuban Adjustment Act. Voluntarily returning to Cuba with this active status can undermine the credibility of a pending asylum case, as it may be interpreted as evidence that the alleged fear of persecution was not genuine.
The case of Débora is not isolated. Since 2025, with the tightening of immigration policies by the Trump administration, several Cubans with I-220A have opted for voluntary return to the island due to fears of swift detentions and deportations. In June 2025, another Cuban returned to Cuba after more than two years in the U.S. after her husband was deported. In October of that same year, a Cuban with I-220A returned to the island with a Toyota, which sparked controversy on social media.
This month, a Cuban mother with an I-220A made the decision to voluntarily leave the U.S. before her hearing, reflecting a trend that is increasingly common among Cubans who arrived in the United States between 2021 and 2023. Meanwhile, lawyers have secured residency for Cubans with I-220A after legal battles, highlighting that voluntary return was not the only option available to those facing such uncertainty.
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