Yosmany Mayeta, the independent Cuban journalist known for the slogan "¡Súbelo, Mayeta!", has been in the United States for seven years without being able to regularize his immigration status and is facing a crucial court hearing in July 2026 that could result in deportation.
Mayeta arrived in the U.S. in 2019 on a J-1 visa, obtained through a scholarship she won for her work as an independent journalist in Cuba. The problem is that this immigration category is incompatible with the Cuban Adjustment Act without a "waiver" from the Department of State, and that waiver never arrived.
"I arrived in 2019 through a scholarship that was awarded to me for my journalistic work in Cuba, with a J-1 visa, which is very, very complicated. The pandemic hit, along with a series of contradictions, and when I decided to apply for the Cuban Adjustment Act, thinking that obtaining residency would be easy, it turned out otherwise," he explained in an interview with journalist Tania Costa from CiberCuba.
"In my case, there is an exception where I had to ask for forgiveness, and so far I have not been able to receive it. The first hearing has passed, and now in the upcoming month of July is the second and decisive hearing," he added.
Mayeta publicly revealed her situation through an emotional post on Facebook, a step that, in her own words, was very difficult for her to take.
"I am always someone who conveys the reality of the Cuban people, giving a voice to those who do not dare to speak, to those who have no voice. And of course, it meant a lot to me to be able to talk about my situation," she clarified.
The journalist, a member of UNPACU since 2011, also denounced a paradox he finds unacceptable: while he remains in a legal limbo, individuals connected to the repressive machinery of the Cuban regime obtain permanent residency with ease.
"It is unfortunate that individuals who were connected to the communist leadership can easily... These individuals do not arrive on a student visa; they come either through humanitarian parole or with a B-1 or B-2 visa, and of course, they stay irregularly for a year and a day in the United States. After a year and a day, they can apply for permanent residence and obtain it with ease," he pointed out.
Tania Costa summarized the contradiction sharply: "We see that the repressors obtain the green card at a speed that we cannot explain how this is possible. And suddenly I find Oscar Casanellas, for example, in a migratory limbo. You, in a migratory limbo. Ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about people who are very, very, very well known in Cuba."
The activist Óscar Casanellas is also facing immigration uncertainty in the U.S., and he reported in May that two oppressors involved in his political expulsion now have legal residency in the country.
In light of the visibility of Mayeta's case, two immigration lawyers have offered to review her situation for free: Liudmila Marcelo and Willy Allen.
According to Tania Costa, Allen himself pointed out that the J-1 student visa issue is very difficult, incompatible with the Cuban Adjustment Act, and that it's a challenging situation. "But we are already at this point; we will need to find a solution."
Mayeta publicly thanked the lawyers Liudmila Marcelo and Willy Allen for taking on his case, as well as all the people who have shared it on social media.
The consequences of deportation would be severe.
"Sadly, I came to study, I did so, and of course returning to Cuba would mean being harassed again or being taken to prison, as has happened in many cases," warned Mayeta, who began her journalistic activism in 2011 alongside UNPACU, the opposition organization led by José Daniel Ferrer, exiled to Miami in October 2025 after years of imprisonment and harassment.
The crucial immigration court hearing for Mayeta is set for July 2026.
Filed under: