The arrests of holders of form I-220A by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continue, even in cases involving mothers with young children and no criminal records.
The immigration attorney Liudmila Marcelo, in an interview with Tania Costa for CiberCuba, explained what real options are available for those who are summoned to report and what consequences may arise from failing to appear.
"Having children, even citizens, does not help; it is neither a mitigating factor nor does it provide protection against detention. The advice that can be given is that if both parents do not yet have legal status in the country, they should always have a legal power of attorney granted to a close relative or trusted person, so that this individual can make important decisions regarding the children in the absence of the parents in case of detention," Marcelo stated.
The case that illustrates the seriousness of the situation is that of Tania Romero Naranjo, a 24-year-old Cuban detained by ICE on June 26 in Portland, Texas, while she was attending a routine supervision appointment. Her three-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, was left in the care of his father, Javier Díaz.
Liudmila Marcelo noted that this type of detention mainly occurs in Texas, happening almost daily. "These things almost always happen in San Antonio, Houston, or El Paso," she stated.
In contrast, he described the ICE office in Miramar, South Florida, as comparatively quieter: "Miramar has been pretty calm lately. I can't guarantee 100%, but when you compare Miramar with Texas, it's super different. There, almost every day they detain one or several people."
However, the lawyer was clear that no holder of an I-220A can predict how their reporting appointment will end: "There is definitely nothing that can tell you whether you will come out of that appointment well or badly."
In response to the question of what someone should do when receiving a citation from ICE, Marcelo was clear: there is no room for not attending. "You can't do anything because if you don't go to your reporting appointment, unless you have a strong medical justification, then you are also violating the conditions under which you were released on parole, because the I-220A means being free on parole," he explained.
Missing the appointment also strengthens ICE's position: "If you fail to comply with this, then they have, yes, now they do have, even though they didn't have it before they were going to do it anyway, but now they have a stronger reason to detain you."
If the arrest takes place, the process becomes considerably more complex.
According to Marcelo, the detained person must first request a bail hearing to determine if they qualify for release. If that avenue does not succeed, they will need to defend their asylum case while remaining in custody, and if they lose, the appeal will also be processed while in detention.
The lawyer openly questioned the logic behind these arrests: "What is the need to detain a person who also has young children, a woman who has not committed any crimes, when there are other individuals who may have committed crimes and violated the conditions of their release on parole?"
It is important to remember that having a child who is a U.S. citizen does not automatically protect the parents from deportation; the child can only apply for residency for their parents upon reaching the age of 21.
Marcelo also discussed the situation of CBP One holders, describing three distinct scenarios. The most favorable one is for those who have already applied for residency and whose judge has closed the court case, as they await approval with peace of mind. A second group has applied for residency but the judge has not closed the case until receiving it, so they are waiting for the final court date.
The third scenario is the most critical: "The worst situation is for those who have judges that have required asylum from them and now have the final court date approaching, yet they still haven’t received their residency. The judge does not want to close the court, and now they will find themselves in the circumstance of having to defend their asylum while having a parole." This happens because the judge lacks jurisdiction to process the residency directly, a situation that, according to Marcelo, occurs with particular frequency in Texas.
Between 400,000 and 500,000 Cubans remain in the United States under the I-220A form in a state of migration limbo, while detentions of Cubans by ICE increased by 463% from late 2024 to early 2026.
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