The Cuban Antonio Frómeta Ascón, 63 years old, has been in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over a year while U.S. authorities try to find a country that will accept him for deportation.
During that time, his first granddaughter was born, whom Frómeta has not yet been able to meet.
"I have not been able to meet her or embrace her. I should be with them and not locked up here," he declared from the ICE Processing Center in El Paso, Texas, in a report published this Sunday by El Paso Matters.
Frómeta arrived in the United States in 1994 during the balseros crisis. After spending some time at the Guantánamo Naval Base, he received parole to enter the country and spent the next three decades living in Florida, working as a tree pruner and starting a family.
He was arrested on August 14, 2025, in West Palm Beach during Operation Tidal Wave, a joint initiative by state and federal authorities to apprehend immigrants with deportation orders.
His immigration situation carries decades of history. In 2002, he was sentenced to five years of probation for an assault charge in Palm Beach, which he completed. In 2008, he failed to appear at an immigration hearing, and a judge issued a deportation order in absentia.
According to El Paso Matters, ICE attempted to deport him to Cuba in November 2025, but Cuban authorities did not accept him.
Frómeta has also refused to be sent to Mexico, citing concerns for his safety. "I am Cuban, not Mexican," he stated.
His prolonged detention reached the courts. In March, he filed a habeas corpus petition with the Federal Court for the Western District of Texas, challenging his continued imprisonment without the finalization of his deportation.
The case references the precedent set by the Supreme Court Zadvydas v. Davis (2001), regarding the detention of immigrants with deportation orders when their removal cannot be executed. The decision established a six-month period deemed presumptively reasonable and stipulated that, after this period, if there are reasons to believe that deportation is not significantly likely in the reasonably foreseeable future, the government must respond with evidence that contradicts this conclusion.
In July, according to the report, the government itself indicated before the court that the timeline for carrying out Frómeta's deportation "is currently unknown."
His story also has another dimension: Frómeta claims to have witnessed what happened before the death of fellow Cuban Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55 years old, who passed away on January 3 while in ICE custody.
The El Paso County coroner determined that Lunas Campos died from asphyxia due to neck and torso compression and classified the death as homicide.
"They handcuffed him, and I saw them beating him as they took him away," Frometa recounted. "They murdered him; there’s no other way to say it."
Frómeta also reported that during his arrest, a guard hit him in one ear, causing hearing loss, and that he was subsequently pressured to agree to his deportation to Mexico.
While waiting for a decision regarding his situation, he states that his health has deteriorated and that he has lost weight. His partner told the media that he is "desperate and very depressed."
In a handwritten letter dated August 14 and submitted to the court weeks later, Frómeta wrote: "I have been detained for a year and fifteen days. I appreciate your time and may God bless you. Please release me."
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