A Cuban deported to Mexico as a "third country" managed to illegally return to the United States, served five months in prison for illegal re-entry, and was released through a habeas corpus petition after claiming that his original expulsion was unlawful and that he was kidnapped and extorted in Mexico.
The case was documented by Raúl Hernández, a Cuban who was himself deported to Mexico and has since been publishing testimonies of compatriots in similar situations through his account on Instagram.
Hernández arrived in Mexico in August 2025 after spending approximately six months detained in Miami. Since then, he has been documenting the situation of other deported Cubans and has amassed over 29,000 followers on Instagram.
He assured that, in this particular case, it was he who personally welcomed the protagonist of this story.
"I personally picked this gentleman up at the ADO terminal here in downtown Cancun," he recounted in the video, adding that he waited weeks before publishing the testimony because he wanted to be 100% sure that the entire story was real.
The journey: deportation, return, and detention
After being expelled to Mexico, the Cuban migrant in question found that Cancun was not what he expected.
“Shortly after he arrived here, he realized that Cancun did not have what he expected, and all his life was in the United States, his family, so he decided to go back there at all costs,” Hernández explained. The decision came at a high price.
"He did it illegally across the border, paying thousands of dollars to be able to return, but still he was arrested and had to serve several months for re-entry, the charge given when you re-enter the country after a deportation," he detailed.
The Cuban man spent five months in detention before being transferred to immigration custody, where authorities attempted to deport him back to Mexico.
The habeas corpus that changed his situation
It was then that the man presented arguments that a judge deemed sufficient to order his release.
“He argued that his deportation to Mexico had been illegal and that while in Mexico he had been kidnapped and had also been extorted on several occasions,” Hernández recounted.
This was compounded by the fact that the Cuban allegedly received blows during the deportation process.
“As we know, that was indeed happening at that time, the judge released him with a habeas corpus,” Hernández noted.
Currently, the man is in U.S. territory with an electronic ankle bracelet.
Hernández showcased the device in the video but protected the identity of the main subject: “I’m not going to show you photos of him, nor am I going to say his name, even though I do have that information. But to avoid exposing this person, I won’t reveal his identity. However, I assure you that everything I’m telling you is 100% real.”
A case within a broader legal crisis
The testimony is set within a legal controversy regarding deportations to third countries.
Between January 2025 and March 2026, the United States sent approximately 4,353 Cubans to Mexico —the largest national group among nearly 13,000 foreign nationals from other countries deported there— under an informal agreement with the Mexican government.
A federal judge declared that policy illegal in February 2026 for failing to guarantee due process, a ruling that was upheld by the Court of Appeals in September.
However, the Supreme Court temporarily suspended both resolutions at the end of that month, allowing deportations to continue while it reviews the substance of the case in December.
Hernández warns that not everyone who attempted to return faced the same fate.
“There are also people who have been deported here, have returned to the United States, and are currently incarcerated for re-entry, and there are some who have even been deported again,” he warned.
Those who accept a second deportation do so, according to him, "out of fear of being deported to Africa, or simply because they do not want to spend more time in detention."
According to a report from Human Rights Watch, none of the Cubans interviewed were given a proper opportunity to challenge their transfer to Mexico, and many were left vulnerable to kidnappings and extortions by criminal groups.
The Trump administration accumulates nearly 12,000 deportations of Cubans during its two terms, according to estimates based on data from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"At this moment, we know that deportations here are illegal, but the Supreme Court has not yet made its decision on the matter," Hernández summarized.
Este caso forma parte de un panorama migratorio en constante cambio. Sigue todos los detalles sobre deportaciones, regresos y derechos de los migrantes en nuestra sección de
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