About to complete a month since his repatriation to Cuba, Denis Picos Rodríguez, 14, faces insomnia and health problems while he remembers with longing his life in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he lived with his family for two and a half years. The young man is now in a small apartment in Havana, Playa municipality, without a clear direction.
Together with his parents, Guillermo Picos and Belkis Rodríguez, he was deported on March 28 in an unusual situation: Cuban migrants released, but with deportation orders, were returned to their country of origin after having lived more than two years in the United States. United and without criminal records.
Denis has used social media to address President Joe Biden, in both English and Spanish, pleading for help to return so he can continue his education with his friends. “Please, President Biden, help us return so I can graduate with my friends and pursue my dreams,” he implored.
The family arrived in the US on November 23, 2021 through the Mexico-Arizona border. Despite receiving notifications to present his asylum case to the immigration courts, his application was denied.
Belkis, the mother, desperately cries out for his return: “My son can’t sleep, he wakes up during the night, he misses his friends, his teachers. I strongly ask you to return us so that my son can go back to school.”
On February 16, 2023, the family appeared in Charlotte Immigration Court, but were also summoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the same day. They arrived late to court, and the judge ruled deportation in absentia.
Despite the efforts of his lawyer, Grisel Ybarra, to reopen the case, the magistrate rejected it. Authorities then detained them on March 27 and sent them to Miami, to be deported to Cuba less than 24 hours later.
The family claims ICE confiscated their phones and prevented them from making calls, even to their attorney. Despite late legal attempts, deportation was already underway.
Seeking a solution, Attorney Ybarra has appealed to Cuban-American politicians, and Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar is aware of the case. Her office has contacted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a response.
The family’s situation is just one of many in a context where deportations from the US to Cuba have increased. While the Enforcement and Removal Office (ERO) targets those who pose a threat to national security, it also considers those who “undermine the integrity of the immigration system.”
Although hopes of reversing the deportation are slim, the family and their lawyer continue to fight for justice and a possible return to the United States.
FOUNTAIN: www.martinoticias.com/ Ricardo Quintana
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