The wife of Cuban percussionist Degnis Nelson Bofill Miranda, who was detained by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last Tuesday, shared details this Saturday with CiberCuba about the musician's legal situation and requested help to raise awareness of the case and obtain support from the community.
Mara Delgado explained that her husband was returning from a trip to New York when he was intercepted by agents at Miami International Airport. He is currently being held at a processing center.
"I think it's possible they were waiting for him, but I really have no confirmation," he said, referring to whether ICE was waiting for the musician at the airport, as was the case with the pianist Andy García Palacios, who was detained on August 15 in Los Angeles.
Bofill entered the United States in 2023 with a visa and had a pending asylum application. According to his wife, the process had not even reached the initial interview stage when the detention occurred.
"Right now, he is in a temporary processing center", Mara specified, adding that the musician is not yet in the ICE detainee locator system or in the immigration court record.
That absence in the official systems complicates the search for legal representation.
"All the lawyers I have consulted have told me that they cannot start anything until it is known which Detention Center they will be transferred to," she noted.
If Bofill is transferred to the jurisdiction of the Krome Detention Center in Miami, his wife plans to hire a lawyer with whom she has already met. "In the meantime, I am gathering documents and letters of support," she added.
To fund the legal defense, Mara organized a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe with a goal of $40,000.
This Saturday, the initiative had raised $23,335 from more than 230 donors.
"Our top priority is to secure his release. In a situation like this, time is essential. Having adequate legal assistance and being able to act quickly can make a huge difference," he wrote on the platform.
«Degnis is not only my partner, my pillar, and my support. He is also a beloved member of the Miami music community: an educator, founder of the group Golpes Libres, and one of the most prominent percussionists of his generation,» wrote Mara Delgado in the GoFundMe campaign, where she also left a direct message to those who want to help: «We need all the support we can get.»
Dozens of friends and musicians close to the artist expressed their support on social media and joined the call for help.
Yadasny José Portillo Herrera posted a message on Facebook: “Family, my brother, Degnis Nelson Bofill Miranda has been unjustly detained by ICE authorities at Miami Airport. He is a person completely integrated into work and especially into music. He is not a criminal and has committed no crime.”
The professor Fidel Morales also expressed his regret over the musician's detention and publicly shared his admiration and respect for him.
Bofill is the founder of the group Golpes Libres and has collaborated with artists such as Roberto Fonseca, Arturo O'Farrill, and Dave Weckl, with a discography that exceeds 28 recorded albums.
In 2022, he won the Latin Grammy in the category of Best Folk Album for his contribution to Ancestros Sinfónico by X Alfonso and Síntesis.
His case is the second of a Cuban musician detained by ICE in the same week.
The Cuban pianist Andy García has also been in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since August 15, as confirmed by his brother Yandy García.
ICE asserts that García Palacios was only authorized to remain in the country until May 27, 2024, and continued to reside there after that date, which is why he is facing a removal process.
His defense, on the other hand, argues that he entered legally, has an active immigration process, and has no criminal record, making him potentially eligible for bail.
The composer Jesús Pupo, close to Bofill and García, denounced these two events on Instagram: "It is very sad what is happening, two of my great friends, brothers, artists, great musicians, but even better people have been detained at the airport, at different airports, but they have been detained by ICE due to their immigration status."
The arrests occur within the context of a intensification of ICE operations in Miami, where the agency processed nearly 6,000 immigrants in July 2026, making the city the primary center for immigration arrests in the country.
According to data from the Cato Institute, the arrests of Cubans by ICE increased by 463% between late 2024 and early 2026. More than 42,000 Cubans have pending final deportation orders in the United States, and since January 2025, more than 4,883 countrymen have been deported.
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