A Cuban identified on TikTok as @janselmaillo posted a video lasting almost three and a half minutes on Monday aimed at all Cuban migrants with I-220A status in the United States, delivering a message that combines personal testimony, faith, and a call for collective resistance.
The video sums up in a few words what hundreds of thousands of Cubans trapped in that migration limbo experience: "Being I-220A is living with fear, uncertainty, and watching the years go by while waiting for an opportunity. It hasn't been easy, but I refuse to lose hope. With God's grace, I know that one day our moment will come. If you are also I-220A, don't give up. You are not alone."
The message resonated immediately within the Cuban community: in less than 24 hours, it garnered 12,900 views, 1,342 likes, and 228 comments.
The I-220A is a supervision release order issued by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that allows migrants to remain out of detention while their case progresses in the courts, but it does not equate to parole or a formal legal admission to the country.
This means that, generally speaking, it does not automatically activate the Cuban Adjustment Act, the pathway that allows Cubans to apply for permanent residency after one year and one day of presence in U.S. territory.
Journalistic estimates for 2026 place the number of Cubans affected by this situation between 400,000 and 500,000, although the figure does not come from a single official statistic.
The legal landscape in 2026 is tumultuous but lacks a definitive resolution. On February 23, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturned previous decisions made by the Board of Immigration Appeals in the cases of two Cuban nationals with I-220A and remanded the cases for further review, without ordering automatic residency or declaring that the I-220A is equivalent to parole.
That ruling has binding effect in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and represents the most significant procedural advancement to date, although it does not close the debate.
In parallel, some judges in Orlando, New Orleans, and San Antonio have granted residency to Cubans with I-220A, but the federal government has systematically appealed those decisions.
Uncertainty has concrete human consequences. Testimonies gathered by various media describe fear, anxiety, depression, and prolonged family separation as the everyday cost of this limbo.
At the end of July, cases accumulated at both ends: on the 31st of that month, the story of a Cuban who received his residency after seven years of waiting with I-220A was revealed, as well as that of a Cuban woman who succeeded in securing her residency in a process that "seemed impossible."
But two days earlier, on July 29, another Cuban with I-220A received a deportation order after attending an immigration appointment.
In that context of extreme uncertainty, mutual encouragement videos on TikTok have become a form of virtual community for those who share the same wait.
The video from @janselmaillo is not the first of its kind: in July 2025, a Cuban with I-220A moved many with a viral message in which she stated: "I am I-220A... I am scared... I have my processes of anxiety, of depression," before urging her community to stay strong.
What connects both messages, separated by more than a year, is the same certainty that @janselmaillo repeats at the end of his video: "You are not alone."
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