A Cuban resident in the United States shared on Sunday the account of what he described as his worst experience in four years of annual check-ins with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in a video posted on TikTok that quickly sparked reactions within the Cuban community abroad.
Jose Diaz (@josediazech) narrated that on June 16, he attended his routine appointment convinced that everything would go as usual: scanning, data verification, a new date for the following year.
“The truth is, I thought it would be quick, like it used to be, when they would scan me, ask for my name, where I lived, give me an appointment for the next year, and everything would be normal. But it wasn’t like that,” he recounted.
From the very first moment, something was different.
"When I arrived, the atmosphere felt a bit strange. The people in front of me were passing by, and those who had entered behind me were also passing through. They placed me in a separate chair," he described.
When called, the agents handed him a paper with the initials DTA and informed him that he had to go up to the office on the third floor, a destination he had never been sent to in his four years of appearances.
"I had never been to the third-floor office in my life. I've been going to the same appointment for four years," he said, visibly upset in the video.
What he found when he stepped out of the elevator paralyzed him: the sign "Immigration Detention Office."
"I said, my God, this is it, this is the end. Bye bye, bye bye, heading to Cuba," he expressed, describing the panic he felt at that moment.
The video uses the hashtag #i220a, indicating that Diaz holds the I-220A form, a release order under recognition that ICE issues to migrants while their case is pending. This document does not equate to a permanent immigration status nor does it automatically protect against detention or deportation.
Diaz's testimony reflects a pattern that has become increasingly common since January 2025, when the Trump administration intensified immigration policies. Cubans with I-220A detained during routine appointments have shifted from isolated cases to a documented constant.
In May 2026, ICE arrested two Cuban pastors in Texas during a supervision appointment. A couple of Cuban dissidents arrested in New York in October 2025 faces deportation orders issued in June 2026.
Not all appointments end in arrest. In May 2026, a Cuban in Jacksonville reported that her appointment went well and a new date was assigned for 2027, illustrating the uncertainty surrounding each appearance.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch published in May 2026, ICE deported approximately 6,000 Cubans to Mexico in the past year under third country removal agreements, as Cuba and the United States do not have effective cooperation for direct deportations.
Diaz announced at the end of the video that the story didn't end there: "There's still more to tell," he wrote in the description, hinting at a second part with the conclusion of his visit to the detention center.
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