Immigration lawyer Liudmila Marcelo issued a direct warning to Cubans who have a pending asylum application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): that process, which many initiated solely to obtain a work permit, could turn into a trap that leads them to Immigration Court unexpectedly.
The risk became more concrete since USCIS published the rule 91 FR 47101 on July 28, 2026, a regulation that allows affirmative asylum applications to be referred directly to an Immigration judge without first conducting an interview with the applicant. The rule took effect immediately and applies to all pending applications from that date, except for those that already had a scheduled interview.
"Right now, at any moment, USCIS can send your asylum case to court, and you will be in the same situation as those at CBP, who are definitely in court because they were supposed to be there since CBP did enter with their court," Marcelo warned during the CiberCuba program.
The lawyer explained that Cubans who entered through CBP One —known as CBP— already had a Notice to Appear (NTA) and an active court process from the beginning. Those who arrived through humanitarian parole, on the other hand, did not automatically face that scenario, but when applying for asylum with USCIS, they became susceptible to having their case transferred to the same forum.
The central problem, according to Marcelo, is that once the case reaches Immigration Court, the applicant loses the opportunity to process their residency through USCIS. "If you are taken to court, you have no immigration relief there because residency is handled through USCIS," he pointed out.
The lawyer was particularly critical of those who applied for asylum without assessing that risk. "Thinking romantically that this asylum would somehow solve your problem was misguided. What was it going to solve for you? A work permit," she stated, adding that the most vulnerable group are the Cubans who arrived directly from the Island under humanitarian parole in 2023. "If the Cubans who entered earlier are losing their asylum, imagine someone who came under humanitarian parole in 2023 directly from Cuba."
In addition to the transfer to court, Marcelo warned of another risk: that USCIS may summon the applicant to a "credible fear" interview, a more stringent standard with shorter deadlines than the ordinary affirmative asylum process.
Given that situation, the lawyer's recommendation was clear: "Please have that asylum closed. Have that asylum closed because on one hand there's a work permit, but on the other there's the risk of being brought to court or being summoned for a credible fear interview."
During the public Q&A session, Marcelo also provided guidance on other cases. To a humanitarian parolee who has been waiting for residency for two years, he indicated that he must initiate pre-litigation at two and a half years to begin the Mandamus process. “At two and a half years, you need to start preparing pre-litigation, have things ready for pre-litigation at two and a half years, and then you can begin the Mandamus process.”
To a ten-year resident by marriage whose passport was revoked by the Venezuelan regime, Marcelo reminded her that she has an option available: "Remember that you can apply for citizenship after three years if you have also been married for three years."
The context exacerbates the urgency of these warnings. The Miami-Dade Immigration Court had 137,373 pending cases as of July 27, 2026, which increases the risk of delays, confusion, and deportation orders being issued in absentia for those who are sent to that instance without knowledge.
Este caso ilustra los riesgos que enfrentan quienes tienen trámites migratorios pendientes. Sigue todos los cambios en las leyes y procesos en nuestra sección de
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