The father of Yasmany Noel Moreno de Armas, a young Cuban deported to the Central African Republic by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), published a book on Amazon Kindle that recounts in the first person the entire odyssey of his son: from the shores of Artemisa to the streets of Bangui, passing through immigration detention centers in New Mexico and Texas.
The work, titled Deported Cuban to Africa from the U.S.: A True Story of Struggle and Separation, was written by Hiovany Moreno Noa, a resident of South Florida, and captures, with "the direct and unfiltered voice" of the protagonist, a journey that began in September 2016, when Yasmany, then 22 years old, boarded a makeshift raft heading to the United States "so as not to leave his cousin behind."
The book, which is sold for $9 USD on Amazon, nine years after that journey, an ICE raid in West Palm Beach put him on a plane, handcuffed and shackled, bound for Africa.
Yasmany arrived in the U.S. protected by the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, obtained humanitarian parole, and applied for residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act, but his application was denied due to issues with the parole timeline.
ICE apprehended him in May 2025 and, after months of transfers between detention centers, he was boarded on a flight with stops in Senegal and Nigeria on July 30, 2026.
He arrived in Bangui on August 1 without knowing what his destination was until the plane began to land.
From the Central African capital, Yasmany began posting videos on Instagram that went viral, denouncing extreme conditions: malaria with no medication, curfews, nights filled with gunfire, and a kidnapping. "We have malaria and there are no medications," he stated in one of those videos, as reported by Univision.
The book precisely collects those stories. According to the product description on Amazon, the work includes "the curfew, nights filled with gunfire, kidnappings, aid distributions, and the hope of returning," and it outlines the full arc of its narrative: "From the farms of Artemisa, Cuba, to the immigration prisons of New Mexico and Texas. From the wet foot, dry foot policy to a UN detention center in Bangui, Central African Republic."
Univision reported on Tuesday that Yasmany himself announced he was encouraged to write about his experiences and that the book would be coming out soon, which indicates that the publication on Kindle is very recent.
Yasmany's case is part of a broader pattern of deportations to third African countries driven by the Trump administration.
Between June and August 2026, at least 92 people of various nationalities were sent to the Central African Republic on three ICE flights, and a total of at least 31 flights to 12 African countries were documented between July 2025 and August 2026.
While the book is being published, another Cuban deported alongside Yasmany, Arístides Fernández García, 37 years old, managed to leave Bangui on October 19 with the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and arrived in Bolivia two days later to reunite with his family.
Yasmany, on the other hand, was in the Central African Republic this Friday, trying to support another group of Cubans who arrived on the deportation flight that left Alexandria Airport in Louisiana on October 22.
"I prefer to be imprisoned [in the U.S.] rather than remain deported in Africa," he declared at the end of September, in a statement that encapsulates the desperation of those who have been sent across the world without connections, without documents, and with no clear prospects for returning.
El caso de Yasmany Moreno es uno de los muchos que reflejan las complejidades del sistema de deportaciones en Estados Unidos. Sigue todas las novedades sobre este y otros casos en nuestra sección de
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