The Cuban influencer Kristoff Kriollo recounted in a video posted on his YouTube channel how agents from the Border Patrol (CBP) intercepted the vehicle he was traveling in with his cameraman Leonis while they were filming content in the Florida Keys, and how the encounter nearly resulted in the detention of his companion.
The incident occurred on the second day of their visit to Key West, where they had traveled to record content along with Leonis, among other locations, at the Havana Cabana hotel.
“Today we were stopped by ICE. It's not ICE because they are another entity similar to ICE, which they call Border Patrol. The two are very similar because both control illegal immigration in the United States, and we went through the scare of a lifetime,” he recounted.
Kristoff's situation was resolved quickly as he is a permanent resident in the United States, although the influencer admitted to a detail that could have complicated the meeting:
"A person says to me: 'I know that you are a resident.' I give them my license. In fact, my green card, my residency card, got lost."
One of the agents recognized him before finishing the checks and joked about his connection with the Cuban presenter Alexander Otaola.
During the conversation, another well-known Cuban creator, Jorge Miyar, El Gussi, also came up.
According to Kristoff, one of the agents made comments about the influencer, known for his criticism of the implementation of U.S. immigration policies, and even referred to him as a “singao”.
The most tense moment: The I-220A from Leonis
The most critical part of the meeting revolved around the cameraman's immigration status.
Leonis has an I-220A form — a release on parole order that does not in itself constitute a definitive immigration status nor is equivalent to a parole — and does not have a cutoff date assigned in his immigration process.
According to Kristoff, the agent was straightforward: “He says to him: 'No, I'm not asking if you have a work permit. I'm asking your status. I-220A, what are you?'. And he replies: 'Yes, I am I-220A'.”
What happened next raised all the alarms: “He asks if there was a cutoff date, and Leonis tells him that there was no cutoff date. He told him that he had to take it, that it was normal for him to take it because there was no cutoff date.”
The influencer interpreted that warning as a sign of the situation migrants are experiencing in the area: “So it seems they are taking people who don’t have a cut-off date. Or simply that they are taking everyone.”
The statement reflects Kristoff's interpretation of what happened during that meeting and does not, on its own, imply that there is a general CBP policy of automatically detaining all individuals with an I-220A who lack a cut-off date.
The agent used discretion and let them go
Leonis was ultimately not arrested. The officer decided not to take harsher measures and allowed them to continue, something that Kristoff publicly appreciated
"If by any chance the officer who stopped us sees this, we thank him from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you so much for the favor he did for us, because, well, he is doing his job. It may seem trivial, but it could have changed the lives of many people."
The outcome contrasts with other recent cases of Cubans with I-220A detained in the Keys, an area where the Key West Police reinstated its cooperation agreement with ICE in July 2025.
Warning to undocumented individuals and stance on arrests
After the scare, Kristoff issued a direct warning: “I advise all undocumented individuals not to come to the Keys to do anything, because it’s boiling here. If you don’t have papers, don’t come to do absolutely anything here in the Keys. We went through a tremendous scare.”
Regarding the immigration operations, he took a nuanced stance. "I do not agree with those arrests, to be honest," he stated, although he added that those with criminal records must face the appropriate consequences.
He also acknowledged: “I do not feel empowered to criticize or attack that entity either.”
The episode takes place against a backdrop of a significant increase in immigration actions in the United States: ICE set a monthly record in July 2026 with 49,571 arrests, while the detention of Cubans rose by 463% between October 2024 and January 2026.
"Everything is the fault of the Cuban dictatorship."
Kristoff reserved his most forceful reflection to highlight what he considers to be the root of the problem.
"Half of my family is I-220A. I wouldn't want anything to happen," he confessed, before directly blaming the Cuban dictatorship for the situation that many migrants are facing.
“Before all of that, I blame the Cuban dictatorship, because it is because of them that we are here. It is because of them that we are going through these scares, these processes, starting from scratch, leaving a country, making journeys. Everything is the fault of the Cuban dictatorship. Before any party, before anything in the United States, for me it is like that”, he concluded.
The creator also announced that he would leave a petition in the first comment of his video to request the application of the Cuban Adjustment Act for individuals with I-220A, a document that keeps thousands of Cubans in legal limbo, without a cutoff date or definitive immigration status.
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