A 38-year-old Cuban man hospitalized in Miami recorded a video from his bed in which he urges immigration authorities to grant a humanitarian visa for his mother, who is still in Cuba, so she can be by his side as he faces leukemia.
His name is Luis Manuel Gómez Torres, hailing from Ciego de Ávila, and the video was recorded by Vivian Paz Paz, who shared it on social media and can be heard asking where he is and where his mother is. One of the versions of the video on Facebook has garnered over 5.2 million views and 172,131 reactions.
"I am pleading for mercy to be allowed to have her here. I am in very poor condition; I ask you as a favor, I beg you to let me see her, to give me the chance to have her here, since I don't know what is going to happen to my life, as it is a very serious illness," says Luis Manuel with a choked voice in the recording.
El proceso para obtener una visa humanitaria en casos como este es complejo y está sujeto a decisiones de las autoridades migratorias de EE.UU. En nuestra sección de encontrarás información actualizada sobre visas, trámites consulares y otros temas que pueden afectar a familias cubanas en situaciones similares.
During the video, Vivian Paz Paz asks about her location and that of her mother, and she clearly states the request: "We need them to grant her the humanitarian visa so that she can come be with her son."
According to the description shared by Guillermo Rodríguez Sánchez, Luis Manuel suffers from fulminant leukemia, "a disease that appears suddenly in young and healthy individuals, rapidly deteriorating all vital functions of the body." The exact medical prognosis has not been publicly disclosed.
The patient requested to be transferred to Cuba to die in his homeland, but that option is medically unfeasible. According to Rodríguez Sánchez, "he cannot board a plane in such condition; it is unfeasible—he would die upon ascending—and from a medical legality standpoint, it is an inadmissible request."
The Facebook page "NiO Reportando Un Crimen," which amplified the case with an urgent call, directed a public request to the Cuban-American congress members María Elvira Salazar, Carlos A. Giménez, and Mario Díaz-Balart to advocate with U.S. immigration authorities and the U.S. Embassy in Havana. "He is not asking for money, luxuries, or privileges. He is asking for something that no child should have to beg for: the embrace of his mother when he needs it most," the post stated.
The current migratory context makes these types of processes especially difficult. The CHNV program — which allowed Cubans to travel legally to the U.S. through parole — was canceled by the Trump administration in January 2025. The only available option for Luis Manuel's mother would be the individual humanitarian parole, using Form I-131, whose approval is discretionary and not automatic.
It is not the first time a Cuban family has faced this situation. In February 2023, a mother from Las Tunas asked for help to travel to Miami where her son was waiting for a heart transplant.
That same month, Anna Lidia Beltrán received a humanitarian visa and arrived in South Florida on February 8 to be with her son, Reidel Daniel Rodríguez Beltrán, 21, who was in an induced coma after a motorcycle accident. The approval came after efforts made by the office of then-Senator Marco Rubio. Although the mother was able to reunite with him, the young man passed away days later. The father, who remained in Cuba, was denied a visa.
In November 2025, the U.S. initially denied a humanitarian visa to the Cuban girl Mía Rey Jiménez, who is suffering from cancer, a case that sparked widespread outrage. Finally, the young girl managed to arrive in Miami in January 2026 to receive treatment at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, following legal efforts and the intervention of Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar's office.
In recent months, ahumanitarian visa was requested for a Cuban girl with leukemia, and in August 2024, the same was requested for a Cuban boy with the same diagnosis.
"As simple as it is heartbreaking, Luis Manuel feels he is going to die and wants to hug his mom before he leaves," summarized Guillermo Rodríguez Sánchez in his post, which also garnered over a thousand comments from those asking for the case to reach those who can resolve it.
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