Daniel Fuentes, a 31-year-old transgender Cuban living in Miami, claims that she has had to cut her hair and alter her manner of speaking and behaving to conceal her gender identity since she was deported from the United States to the Central African Republic, according to a report by the Tampa Bay Times.
"Here, the security guards tell me that it’s better not to go out because it’s not safe for me," Fuentes reported from Bangui, the capital of the African country.
The Cuban woman claims that she lives in fear of going out into the street and tries to remain unnoticed in an environment where she believes her identity could put her in a particularly vulnerable situation.
"It's a double challenge to live in uncertainty and in a country where LGBTQ rights are not talked about. I can't wait for all of this to be over," she said.
Fuentes entered the United States in 2024 through an appointment obtained via CBP One. She received humanitarian permission and later worked at a beauty salon in Miami. ICE arrested her on March 23, and she remained detained for four months until, in July, she was sent on a 21-hour flight to Bangui.
According to her testimony, she was not informed beforehand that she would be deported to the Central African Republic.
On the same flight traveled another 35 immigrants, including Cubans Yasmany Moreno, 32 years old, and Arístides Fernández, 37, who also described to the Tampa Bay Times the uncertainty they are facing in the African country.
Moreno stated that he realized he was headed to Africa five hours after takeoff when an agent informed him. "Honestly, I thought it was a bad joke," he recalled.
The Cuban, who suffers from diabetes and asthma, said he was ill for four days after the trip, during which he was handcuffed at the wrists, waist, and ankles.
"It's a completely inhumane situation. What are we doing here? It's a question we ask ourselves every day," stated Moreno, who had been living in the United States for ten years and owned a small transportation business in South Florida.
Fernández, for his part, described what happened as a "kidnapping". He was arrested in January after leaving a migration hearing in Miami and spent seven months in different detention centers before being transferred to Africa.
"We haven't signed any document, and we don't know what to do with our lives. No human being has the right to do this to another person," he stated.
The three Cubans are staying at the Maison Confort, a modest hotel in Bangui, without their passports and unaware of what will happen to them. According to the report, in order to leave, they must pay five dollars to a guard who will accompany them, and they have been warned that they may have to leave the hotel in 90 days.
Deportations to third countries allow the United States to expel certain migrants when they are not sent directly to their countries of origin. In the case of Cuba, the difficulties in executing some deportation orders have for years left individuals with final expulsion orders within U.S. territory.
The situation is particularly delicate in the Central African Republic. The U.S. State Department maintains a Level 4 travel advisory for that country due to, among other risks, crime, kidnappings, and terrorism.
The Department of Homeland Security, however, defended its position to the Tampa Bay Times: "When a person is no longer in ICE custody, ICE is no longer responsible for them."
Héctor Díaz, managing partner of the law firm Your Immigration Attorney in Miami, described the situation as a "clear abuse of human rights" and pointed out that the deported individuals remain trapped without clear legal options.
"Starting to send people to Africa is really absurd. They are basically in a limbo," he stated.
The deportation policy to third countries continues to generate litigation in the United States, while thousands of Cubans remain under orders of expulsion. Between October 2025 and June 2026, more than 4,000 Cubans received deportation orders solely in Florida.
El caso de Daniel Fuentes pone el foco en la situación de personas vulnerables deportadas por Estados Unidos a terceros países. Sigue todos los detalles sobre procesos migratorios, deportaciones y derechos en nuestra sección de
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