The Cuban Yasmany Moreno de Armas, deported by the United States to the Central African Republic, stated that his lawyer informed him of a possible negotiation for him to be returned to U.S. territory and initially remain in a detention center while his immigration process continues.
Moreno revealed the information in a video posted on Instagram, in which he stated that the proposal would rule out, at least for now, his return through a parole and instead consider having him appear before a judge to request a bail hearing.
"The lawyer just informed me that the negotiations with the United States government have already taken place," said Moreno, who explained that he still does not know to which detention center he would be transferred if his return is ultimately finalized.
According to his account, the proposed alternative would be to remain in custody until a judge decides on a possible bail and, if granted, to continue the immigration process outside of the detention center.
"I prefer to stay for two or three months, as they are telling me, in a detention center rather than being deported to Africa," he stated. "It's the only option they are giving me and the only option I can take at this moment."
Moreno again described the conditions in which he claims to live in the Central African Republic as extremely difficult. "The life lived here is very horrible and very sad, with all the work and hunger endured here in this country," he noted.
For the moment, there is no public confirmation from U.S. authorities regarding a specific agreement to return Moreno to the United States. The information about the alleged negotiations comes from what the Cuban himself communicated after speaking with his lawyer.
Moreno, 31 years old, was sent to the Central African Republic in late July as part of the U.S. policy of deportations to third countries.
According to immigration documents cited at the time, he had arrived in Florida by raft in September 2016 and was admitted under the now-abolished "wet foot, dry foot" policy.
Subsequently, he applied for permanent residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act, but his request was denied because, according to those records, he submitted it after his parole had expired.
Without legal status, he was arrested by ICE in May 2025 and remained in custody for about a year before being deported.
Moreno has assured that he has no criminal history and that he learned he would be sent to Africa when the plane was already close to landing in Bangui. From there, he has reported a lack of documents, restrictions on movement, and difficulties in meeting basic needs.
In another recently released video, the Cuban reacted to the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that temporarily allows the administration of Donald Trump to continue with the expedited deportations to third countries while the justices review the legality of that policy.
"This is going to be a very ugly situation for all the immigrants currently in detention centers," said Moreno, who expressed concern that more people will be transferred to African countries before the highest court resolves the lawsuit.
The Supreme Court decided on September 29 to temporarily suspend the effects of lower court decisions that required specific procedural guarantees before sending an immigrant to a third country. The court also agreed to examine the merits of the case and scheduled the arguments for its session in December 2026.
That means that the Court has not yet definitively ruled that the policy is legal; it authorized it to continue temporarily while examining issues related to due process, immigration laws, and protections against sending individuals to places where they claim to face the risk of persecution or torture.
The decision was noted this Tuesday in a note on the provisional continuation of deportations to third countries.
Politics has been used to send around 25,000 people to more than two dozen countries, although most were relocated to Mexico, according to data cited by Associated Press.
The case of Moreno occurs amid judicial decisions that have ordered the return of some immigrants expelled to Africa. On September 18, Federal Judge Regina M. Rodríguez of the District of Colorado ordered the Trump administration to return Honduran Bryan Omar Sánchez to the United States, who had been sent to the Central African Republic despite having a pending asylum request and protection under the Convention Against Torture.
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