Yisel Miguel Sarduy, wife of the Cuban Deivy Alemán Oropesa, launched a desperate call on Facebook this Saturday aimed at American senators and congress members to intercede and obtain a temporary humanitarian visa that would allow her husband to return to the United States before their three-year-old daughter undergoes her fourth open-heart surgery.
Keira, the couple's daughter, was born with tricuspid valve absence, a serious congenital heart defect that has required multiple surgical interventions since she was five months old. The first surgery kept her hospitalized for two months in critical condition.
The third surgery, performed a year and a month after birth at the Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in Florida, was successful.
Now, in October, the procedures for the fourth surgery will begin, and his father has been in Cuba for a year without being able to be by his side.
"The only thing we are asking for right now is that they help us obtain a humanitarian visa so that he can be here for two or three months," Yisel stated in the video, which garnered nearly 59,000 views in just a few hours.
Yisel closed her call with a direct plea: "Just put yourself in my shoes for a second. It's really difficult to go through a situation like this for the fourth time and experience it over the phone."
The family does not demand Alemán's permanent return. Yisel was explicit about this: "If he needs to return to Cuba later and complete his process there, we have no issue with that. But the problem is that it is very important for the recovery of the girl, for her emotional stability, that her dad and mom are with her during these very difficult times ahead."
Alemán lived in Orlando, Florida, for approximately seven years under immigration supervision with form I-220B —which corresponds to individuals with a final order of deportation— without any criminal record or traffic violations.
In September 2025, after attending an appointment with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and receiving the order to either leave voluntarily or face detention, he chose to self-deport to avoid forced deportation, hoping that his immigration situation would be resolved from Cuba.
"The only crime he committed, like the majority, was crossing borders; everything else was paying taxes and working without any issues," Yisel pointed out.
A year later, uncertainty remains. Although USCIS recently approved the expedited processing of Alemán's case —which includes an I-130 petition filed by Yisel a year and a half ago— that progress does not equate to a return authorization nor does it establish a specific date.
Experts in immigration consulted by journalist Javier Díaz from Univision 23 agreed that Alemán could eventually return, but "the exact date remains uncertain."
From Cuba, Alemán expressed his distress: "It’s coming soon, the girl's surgery is approaching. It’s a very difficult process that has me worried because we’ve been through this before."
The humanitarian visa requested by the family is a mechanism for temporary migration relief that can be granted at the discretion of the Department of State or the Department of Homeland Security in cases of verified medical emergencies, but it is not an automatic process and generally requires the support of legislators.
So far, no congressman or senator has publicly confirmed taking on the case.
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