Naydin Hernandez stood on Havana's waterfront Malecon boulevard in tears, praying as her dream of reuniting with her daughter in the United States seemed to fade away. "God knows I miss her," she said, referring to her 21-year-old daughter. "I want to see her."
Hernandez had applied for entry under a "parole" program initiated by former President Joe Biden, which allowed migrants with sponsors to temporarily reside and work in the United States. However, her hopes were shattered when the administration of former President Donald Trump announced it would revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans in the U.S. A draft Federal Register notice described the program as ineffective and declared it had exceeded legal boundaries.
This announcement has caused confusion and heartbreak among many residents of the communist-run island, who are enduring an ongoing economic crisis and have long been accustomed to policies that favored their entry into the United States over other nationalities.
According to Customs and Border Protection and Department of Homeland Security figures, over 700,000 Cubans entered the U.S. during Biden's four years in office. It remains unclear how many of these individuals enrolled in programs providing protection or legal status; many were frozen in February by the Trump administration, which placed them under review.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez criticized the U.S. for tempting Cubans to migrate and then turning them away, calling it an "act of cruel cynicism."
Dario Mendez, a 20-year-old engineering student in Havana, expressed that many people he knew had "sacrificed everything" to migrate to the U.S., and forcing them to return now would be unjust. "Just when you thought they were getting ahead, they tell you, you might have to go back," Mendez said.
Cuba's deputy noted earlier this month that any increase in deportations to Cuba would need to be discussed with the island's government under long-standing agreements.
In South Florida, home to a significant Cuban American community, concerns about the possible deportation of recent arrivals led Republican U.S. Representative Maria Elvira Salazar to urge the Trump administration to reconsider its stance, attributing the dilemma to Biden's policies. "Trump should recognize this reality and not punish them for Biden's errors," she stated.
The White House has not yet responded to requests for comments on Rodriguez's statements.