The Cuban immigrant Lisneidis Figueroa Ramos achieved a legal victory after her lawyer appealed the deportation order issued against her. The case resulted in a nationwide ruling issued this Friday by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which could benefit thousands of asylum seekers in the United States.
Telemundo 51 reported that the decision —known as Matter of L-F-R- (29 I&N Dec. 787) and issued on July 24, 2026— clarifies that the failure to pay the Annual Asylum Fee within the specified timeframe can only lead to the denial of the application, but does not automatically eliminate two other forms of immigration protection: Withholding of Removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
Many migrants have lost their asylum cases for not paying the new annual fee of 102 dollars. They do not act in time and receive deportation orders for the non-payment.
The Cuban woman discovered her situation while checking the immigration portal to verify the date of her final hearing. Upon accessing the system, she found a deportation order without having received any clear prior notice.
She immediately contacted her lawyer, Nera Sheffer, in Scottsdale (Arizona). Upon reviewing the case file, the attorney found that an immigration judge in Texas had rejected the I-589 form because Figueroa Ramos did not pay the annual fee of 102 dollars within the 30-day deadline.
The fee was established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, and took effect for immigration courts on January 2, 2026. There is no exemption for economic hardship, which has left many applicants vulnerable to unknowingly losing their cases.
After reviewing the appeal, the BIA concluded that, although the judge acted within his authority in denying the asylum request, that consequence could not be extended to the other two forms of protection.
The court returned the case to the Immigration Court to evaluate the Withholding of Removal and protection under CAT, thus partially reversing the deportation order.
"When Big Beautiful Bill speaks and says '102 dollars,' he is only referring to asylum, not to Withholding or protection under CAT," Sheffer stated about the case.
Withholding of Removal and CAT require a higher standard of proof than asylum, do not grant permanent residency, nor allow the derivation of benefits to family members, but do prevent deportation to the country of origin.
The significance of the ruling far exceeds the individual case. In Florida alone, approximately 4,007 deportation orders were issued against Cubans in the first two quarters of fiscal year 2026, and nationwide, it is estimated that around 42,000 Cubans have active deportation orders.
Those who lost their asylum due to non-payment of fees may find in the BIA's decision a legal option to seek protection under Withholding of Removal or CAT, provided they can meet the stricter requirements that these forms demand.
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