A group of Cubans deported to the Central African Republic published a series of videos on social media on Wednesday addressed to the Democrats, who had regained control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress the day before, urging them to intervene and facilitate their return to the United States.
The videos were shared by Yasmany Moreno, José Miguel Hernández, and a woman identified as Esperanza Toscano Gómez, who report having been taken to Bangui handcuffed, without documents, and without having received proper immigration processing.
The three are among the Cubans deported to Africa who have been living in extreme conditions for months, over 10,000 kilometers away from their families in U.S. territory.
"We are asking the Democrats now that they have won to please look at the situation we are in, which they brought us into without the proper process towards the Central African Republic. They brought us in tied up, we are still detained in the centers here, we have no papers, we are sick, all of us with stomach malaria," stated Moreno in one of the clips.
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José Miguel Hernández was more direct in his message: "What we are asking for is to be returned, that we are here involuntarily, we were brought here by force, we were brought down by force, and what we are asking of the democrats is to take us back and respect our due process."
Esperanza Toscano Gómez congratulated the Democrats on their electoral victory and directly appealed to former President Barack Obama: “Democrats, congratulations. I knew from the bottom of my heart that you were going to win. Now we simply ask, and fervently, with God as our witness, to support us, gentlemen. We are going through the hardship of the century.”
Toscano Gómez also invoked the humanitarian precedent of 2015-2016, when thousands of Cubans were stranded in Central America and a regional bridge was established to facilitate their transit to the U.S.: "What you did in Panama, please do the same for us here in Africa, because we are people, we are human."
The deportees also rejected being labeled as criminals: "Everyone here, no one is a criminal, we are not criminals, we have no felonies. Put yourselves in our place; some of your families could also be here," insisted Toscano Gómez.
The political context is crucial. The Democrats gained control of the Senate on Tuesday with 54 seats and at least 228 seats in the House of Representatives, which weakens the legislative power of the Trump administration for the last two years of its term.
Moreno, 32 years old, is the most documented case of the group. He arrived in the U.S. by boat in 2016, received humanitarian parole, and applied for residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act, but his request was denied. He was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in May 2025 and deported to Bangui on July 30, 2026. He had supported Trump in the 2024 elections and last October declared that he felt betrayed.
The legality of these deportations to third countries remains disputed. A federal appeals court determined in September that the policy violated due process, but the Supreme Court allowed its temporary continuation while the litigation proceeds, with hearings scheduled for December.
By the end of October, at least four flights had been conducted to the Central African Republic with approximately 170 deportees of various nationalities, of which 69 were Cuban in the most recent recorded transfer. The lawyers representing the group are exploring humanitarian visas to move some of them to Costa Rica, Panama, or Guyana while they continue their immigration processes.
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