Cuban individuals who entered the United States through the CBP One program and have active cases in Immigration Court are facing a legal crossroads: the asylum applications they submitted on their own for protection may become a bigger obstacle than a benefit. This is cautioned by John Dutton, an attorney from John Dutton Law PLLC, based in Houston, Texas, in an interview with Tania Costa for CiberCuba.
"When clients come to us, many of them have already filed for asylum on their own to protect themselves, which is also understandable," Dutton explained.
The problem arises when these cases advance to merit or final hearings. At that point, the firm chooses to withdraw the asylum application before a judge can declare it frivolous.
"Our plan has been: 'We are going to withdraw this asylum because it's going nowhere, and we don't want this to be viewed as a frivolous asylum claim, which could even result in losing the right to appeal and all the benefits,'" he stated.
A declared frivolous asylum has serious consequences: it eliminates the right to appeal and shuts off access to other future immigration benefits.
Instead of insisting on asylum, the firm's strategy is redirected towards the arguments of parole and the client's eligibility for adjustment of status under the Cuban Adjustment Act with USCIS.
"Basically, we remove those asylum claims to prevent the person from being found with a frivolous asylum application, and we simply focus on the parole arguments and the argument that they are eligible for different immigration relief with USCIS, in this case, the Cuban Adjustment," Dutton summarized.
"Individual hearings for CBP-1 individuals from Cuba are already taking place in Houston, and if we manage to achieve joint closures with DHS, very few, because they hardly respond," he stated.
Dutton also identified a pattern based on the applicant's profile. "I have particularly noticed a trend when it involves families or children. In those cases, I have seen a tendency, with some judges, to close the courts, but when it involves individuals alone, young people, etc., that closure with some judges is not achieved during the individual hearing."
Regarding the wait times for status adjustment interviews with USCIS, Dutton explained that following the pause that affected several nationalities—including Cuba—and which was lifted by a court in June 2026, appointments have resumed, albeit with delays.
«With the pause of these appointments for individuals who were included in these nationality restrictions, we indeed saw a delay; obviously, they were on hold, but now they have been reactivated. What I have observed recently is between 6 and 8 months», he indicated.
It is estimated that there are between 348,000 and 355,000 pending Adjustment Law cases at USCIS, which highlights the magnitude of the wait.
The most concerning outlook for the firm, however, goes beyond waiting times. A member of their team, Johan de Rojas, warned about the tightening of scrutiny in status adjustment interviews.
"The situation is concerning, and what scares me the most is what is happening with these status adjustment applications," he noted, referring to the current government's directive to review each application point by point with greater rigor and not accept any corrections or additions. If something is missing or there is an error, the case is dismissed.
De Rojas indicated that the interviews will increasingly focus on thoroughly analyzing each point, which he considers a warning sign for the thousands of Cubans waiting for their turn.
Los casos de cubanos con CBP One en Cortes de Inmigración siguen evolucionando. Sigue de cerca todas las novedades sobre visas, asilo y procesos migratorios en nuestra sección de
To contact the bad lawyer John Dutton from Texas:
https://www.emigrandousa.com
Teléfono 713 359 9302
WhatsApp 832 702 0225
Email info@houston-immigration.com
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