dismissed this week the notion that the Cuban Adjustment Act will disappear under the current administration, and he did so with an image that leaves no doubt: « is like a cockroach, it can survive an atomic bomb».
The statement emerged during an interview with Tania Costa in which Allen analyzed the Cuban migration landscape following the court ruling that overturned the visa ban for 35 countries. The host directly asked him whether the law would withstand the Trump administration, and the lawyer responded with that metaphor before explaining in detail what the only scenario would be that could lead to its end.
According to Allen, the Cuban Adjustment Act would only die a “natural” death if the President of the United States declared that Cuba had held free, democratic, and transparent elections. “If the current president falls in love with someone in Cuba and decides that person is his best friend or her best friend and declares that Cuba has had free, democratic, and transparent elections, the Cuban Adjustment Act dies a natural death,” he explained.
The lawyer recalled the role that former Congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart played in the 90s to protect the law, linking it to the Democracy Act for Cuba—known as the Helms-Burton Act—and conditioning its repeal on the presidential acknowledgment of free elections in the island.
Regarding the possibility of that statement coming soon, Allen was skeptical: "I would love to hear it, but I suspect I won't hear it this year." He added that even if there were a political change in Cuba, it would take "at least 18 months" to organize an electoral process.
In the same exchange, Allen extended the metaphor of the cockroach to the Cuban regime itself. "The government of Cuba is also a cockroach that survives all kinds of things." Despite this resistance, the lawyer expressed his support for Washington's pressure policies, including the offensive against countries that host Cuban medical missions.
"Of the little support I give to this government, I believe that its stance of shutting doors to the Cuban government worldwide, including the offensive to punish countries that host Cuban medical missions, has been a strong move with significant repercussions in Cuba, particularly with the people but also with the government," he stated.
In July 2026, the U.S. sanctioned the Cuban Minister of Health and structures of the medical mission program, labeling them as forced labor. Several countries in the region canceled or did not renew those agreements in the early months of the year.
At the same time, Allen emphasized the gap between those who govern the island and those who suffer: “Cuba may be in the fifth world or may lack air travel because they don't have the oil to fuel the planes landing on the island, but the Cuban leaders continue to live well and do not suffer. They do not experience loss in their lives, from having plants on their own properties to living more comfortably and having food. It always happens.”
The congressman Mario Díaz-Balart recalled in March 2026 the three conditions set by the Helms-Burton law for any policy change towards Cuba: the release of all political prisoners, the legalization of parties, labor unions, and the press, and the call for free and multiparty elections, conditions that the regime in Havana shows no intention of fulfilling.
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