The Cuban Orlais Lores Mayeta has been detained for over a month by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Georgia, while his wife, five months pregnant, awaits the birth of the couple's first child after years of trying to start a family.
Orlais was arrested by federal agents on August 2, just a few meters from his home in Stockbridge, according to a report from Univision Atlanta.
His wife, Kayla Lores Mayeta, a U.S. citizen, attributes what happened to a possible issue in the processing of the Cuban's residency. She explained that the lawyer handling the case submitted the adjustment of status application under the Cuban Adjustment Act to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), when it should have been filed with the immigration court due to the ongoing process that Orlais had.
"Her lawyer sent her Cuban adjustment package to USCIS instead of sending it to the immigration court," Kayla said.
An immigration attorney consulted by Univision and not involved in the case explained that the jurisdiction to process certain residency applications may belong to the immigration court when there is an open case. He noted as an exception cases in which the person has been deemed an arriving alien, where USCIS may retain jurisdiction.
Orlais arrived in the United States in October 2021, was detained at the border, and later released on parole. In the following years, the couple believed that their immigration process was progressing normally, and the Cuban even completed the required medical examination for his application.
According to the report, the issue came to light after USCIS discovered that Orlais had an open case before an immigration court, which led to the administrative closure of the application submitted to the agency.
For Kayla, the detention came at one of the most important moments of their lives.
"We've been married for three years trying for a child. Right now, I am five months pregnant, and they took my husband," she lamented, struggling a bit to speak Spanish.
The Cuban remains detained at the Irwin County Processing Center in Ocilla, Georgia. An immigration judge denied him bail, and his final hearing is scheduled for September 30.
Kayla asserts that she has not received a clear explanation regarding the reason the authorities were searching for her husband. "I've heard about three different reasons why they are looking for him, and to me, they all seem like lies," she stated.
ICE did not respond to requests for comments from Univision Atlanta, according to the outlet.
The arrest has also left Kayla facing household expenses, the pregnancy, and legal fees all on her own. The family has started a fundraiser to try to cover the costs.
"He is losing so many things. He wanted to go to all the appointments with me, but he can't," the young woman lamented.
The case occurs amid a significant increase in the detention of Cubans by ICE. Data from the Cato Institute revealed that administrative arrests of citizens from the island rose from 207 in January 2025 to 1,008 in January 2026.
In April, ICE detained a Cuban woman who was experiencing a high-risk pregnancy, another case that highlighted the familial consequences of immigration detentions.
Kayla claims that she never imagined her own family would find themselves in such a situation.
"My husband was always showing me videos of people being picked up by ICE. I never thought they could really act the way they are acting," she expressed.
Now she hopes that the process will allow Orlais to return home and accompany her during the final stretch of her pregnancy and the birth of her first child.
La detención de Orlais es uno de los muchos casos que reflejan la complejidad del sistema migratorio en Estados Unidos. Sigue todos los desarrollos en nuestra sección de
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