The Cuban influencer La Damosky (Ariagna González) had a deeply affecting experience this Friday upon arriving at Miami airport from the Dominican Republic: she was held for almost three hours by immigration agents, interrogated multiple times, and feared losing her permanent residency in the United States.
According to a reel she posted on her Instagram account, it all started when they took her to a private room where they confiscated her passport and phones. "They took me to this little room for almost an hour, something like I've never had my passport taken from me before, they took my phones. It was terrifying, the shock I went through," described the content creator.
The episode didn't end there. As she left the room and headed to pick up her luggage, two agents stopped her again. "When I went to get my bags, two police officers, well, I don't know if they're police or immigration, I'm not sure, they were asking me questions, about how much money I earned, where I was coming from," she recounted.
Just as she was about to leave the airport, a third group of plainclothes agents stopped her once again. "They took me into another room, took my passport, confiscated my residency, and began asking me a lot of questions again. They searched all my bags, even searched me," she recounted.
Among the questions they asked him, the agents wanted to know why he traveled so frequently to the Dominican Republic, how much money he earned, and where he was from. Additionally, they confiscated his phone and demanded that he show his social media accounts. "They took my phone and then made me show them my social media," he stated.
La Damosky, who usually resides in the Punta Cana area and regularly travels between that country and Miami, acknowledged that her frequent comings and goings may have attracted the attention of the authorities. "You know that I go back and forth, go back and forth, go back and forth," she said, referring to her usual travel pattern.
At the most tense moment of the process, the influencer feared she would lose her immigration status. "I said, oh my God, they're going to take away my residency," she confessed. She was eventually released and was able to enter the country, but the episode left a lasting mark on her. "I don't think I can go back because of the scare I went through; they almost took my residency away," she stated.
The case contrasts with what was experienced in March 2025, when La Damosky published a video from that same airport claiming that she had entered "completely normally," without being asked any questions, refuting at that moment rumors about restrictions for residents traveling to the Dominican Republic.
The episode takes place in a context of tightening migration controls at U.S. airports. According to El País in June 2025, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has the authority to inspect electronic devices and social media at entry points without a warrant, even for permanent residents. Frequent travelers abroad may trigger secondary inspections if authorities suspect the resident does not actually live in the country. In Miami, the detentions of Cubans increased by 463% between 2024 and 2026, and there have been documented cases of permanent residents being detained upon their return from international trips.
"‘If you’re going to travel, be careful because things are quite bad,’ La Damosky warned her followers at the end of her story."
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