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The independent Cuban journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada published an urgent plea directed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Cuban-American congress members Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar, and Carlos Giménez yesterday from Washington D.C., asking them to intervene to prevent his possible deportation before July 1, the date he is required to appear before Immigration Court.
The immigration judge denied a motion for postponement filed by her attorneys, Yelena Guerra and Liudmila Armas Marcelo, who took on her defense pro bono. The denial requires Mayeta to appear in person in court in just 15 days, at a hearing that, as she warns, could lead to a deportation order.
The legal knot of the case lies in section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Mayeta entered the United States in 2019 with a J-1 visa related to a scholarship for her journalistic work, a category that requires two years of residence in the home country before being able to adjust immigration status, unless the State Department approves a waiver or pardon. This process has been pending resolution for years, keeping her in immigration limbo for nearly seven years.
Since Marco Rubio is the head of the State Department and has direct authority over that process, Mayeta explicitly asks him to expedite the handling before July 1.
"I am not a person who has arrived in this country illegally or with the intention of evading the law. I arrived with proper documentation, fulfilled my obligations, and have been waiting for years for an institutional response that still has not come," wrote the journalist.
Mayeta is known for his work on the project "Kuba x Dentro" and for covering issues such as blackouts, political repression, and living conditions from Santiago de Cuba. He practiced independent journalism in Cuba for over a decade, which led to threats, harassment, and persecution by the regime. "My work cost me threats, harassment, and persecution from regime agents. I came to this country seeking the freedom that Cuba denied me," he stated.
The journalist warns that a deportation would return him to a country where his integrity and safety are at real and documented risk, and he has publicly stated that he fears being jailed upon arriving in Cuba. "Deporting me would mean returning me to a country where my integrity and safety are at real and documented risk. MY LIFE IS AT RISK," he wrote in his appeal.
On June 6, Mayeta physically went to the Capitol to deliver letters to the offices of the three Cuban-American congresspeople, with no public response from any of them up until yesterday.
Your case is not isolated. In August 2025, 13 Cuban activists —including Anamely Ramos and El Funky— also signed a letter to Rubio and Florida congress members requesting the suspension of their deportation orders. According to Human Rights Watch, between January 2025 and March 2026, the United States deported approximately 4,353 individuals of Cuban origin to Mexico, due to Cuba's refusal to accept them directly.
Mayeta also called on the press, journalists, activists, and human rights organizations to raise awareness about her situation. "I am not asking for privileges. I do not ask for the procedures to be overlooked. I only request a fair opportunity: that the pending waiver be processed in time so that I can continue my life in the country where I have resided for the last seven years, away from the regime that has tried to silence my voice and my work for more than a decade," she concluded.
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