A Cuban woman wearing an electronic ankle monitor posted a video on TikTok on Wednesday, visibly upset, recounting how her routine appointment with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cost her the work permit, passport, and job, all within a matter of minutes.
In the video posted on her account @yusmary538, the woman explains that her work authorization was canceled the instant she crossed the door of the office of the agent handling her case. “The permit I had to work until that moment when I stepped into the office of the lady who assists me expired," she recounts, sobbing.
But the cancellation of the permit wasn't the only issue. The agents also withheld her passport without providing further justification. "When I arrived, he told me: no, we have to keep your passport. Why? Because that's what the ICE officer decides until you finish your process," the woman recounts, describing the response she received.
What affected her the most, according to her own account, was the complete lack of explanations from the official who assisted her. "The least one deserves as a human being is that if there is going to be a change or anything is going to happen, at least they should tell you: look, your permit expired because of this," she noted.
Upon leaving the office, the Cuban woman described a state of extreme disorientation. "I left the office and... I almost got hit by a car, honestly," she said. She added, "I don't even know what to think or what to do anymore. I know all of this has an end, and it's not going to bring me down, but the helplessness is overwhelming, the injustice is so great, and it's so frustrating not being able to defend yourself."
The immediate outcome was the loss of his job. "At the moment, I already lost my job, I don’t know, I don’t know how far we’re going to go," he concluded.
The video, tagged with #grilleteelectronico, confirms that the woman is under electronic supervision by ICE, placing her among the thousands of Cubans with an I-220A form who entered the United States between 2021 and 2024. This document does not provide legal immigration status or work permission, although it allows for temporary residence while the case is being resolved.
Her experience is not an isolated case. A Cuban woman arrested in Phoenix after leaving her job spent a month in detention and was released with an electronic ankle monitor, despite having a valid work permit. In January of this year, ICE questioned the citizenship of a Cuban woman and held her for 25 days before also releasing her with an ankle monitor. And in May, Cristian Michel García Gil was released after five months in detention through a writ of habeas corpus.
Immigration lawyers warn that voluntarily surrendering a passport to ICE can harm the immigrant in their legal process, as the document may be used against them during immigration proceedings.
It is estimated that around 400,000 Cubans in the United States are in a state of immigration limbo, many of them with form I-220A, facing these types of consequences every time they attend a supervision appointment with ICE.
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