Protests on the ICE raids have been happening all over the country, and that includes right here in Tampa. ABC Action News Annette Gutierrez was at Monday’s protest, where it was mainly peaceful, but emotions were high.
Now, she is diving deeper to highlight both sides of this debate.
After his friend reached out to us, Gutierrez spoke with a Cuban man who has been fighting to get residency in America. However, he could be facing deportation.
WATCH: Local Cuban immigrant fears deportation despite following legal path
The Cuban man said he and his wife are scared.
"My wife and I rarely go out to the grocery store, let alone any Latino markets," said the Cuban man.
In order to protect his identity, we are not sharing his name.
This man came to the United States back in 2022. He said he presented himself to ICE agents at the Mexican border, legally. From there, they could either give him parole or detain him. The latter happened.
"Unfortunately, when I first arrived, I was processed differently from the other migrants and was sent to a detention center," said the Cuban man.
He was at a detention center in Arizona for 30 days before he was released on what his attorney said was an order of release and recognizance through an I-220A document.
"There's no rhyme or reason as to why people are processed that way at the border," said Danielle Hernandez, an immigration attorney and owner of DVH Law Group. "This particular person was not given parole, and this ultimately ended up being detrimental in his case and his ability to take advantage of becoming an LPR, a legal permanent resident, a year after entering."
Hernandez represents this client. Soon after his release, she had him apply for political asylum. His case was pending for two years up until just a few weeks ago, when he had a hearing before a judge. They denied him asylum, even though Hernandez said he did everything the legal way.
"He did everything he's supposed to do," said Hernandez. "He reached out to an attorney, he did an asylum application within the right time period, he found evidence that he needed to show to substantiate his case, and he even had documents from an attorney that was helping him in Cuba. But, the judge didn't consider any of this in his case."
Now, he could face deportation.
"With the way things are these days, I'm afraid that if I get stopped while driving, I can get detained and deported at that very moment," said the Cuban man.
While his asylum application was pending, he got a work permit that is in effect for five years, and has been working since. During this time, his cousin was also able to sponsor his wife to come to America. She has since gotten her residency and is now pregnant. Their first child is due any week now.
"Neither me nor my wife have had any children," said the Cuban man. "But to think I might not be able to be here when my wife gives birth, and to not see my child, that would be devastating. We don’t know what to do. It’s scary."
His coworkers reached out to us on his behalf, saying he is an exemplary citizen. And they reached out to local congressman Greg Steube for help.
When asked about what his thoughts are on the folks who are doing it the right way, and are now stuck in limbo, Steube responded by saying, "I don't know the factual circumstances of this specific individual. But what I can tell you is 96% of the people that come to our country that claim asylum, don't get asylum because they're not legally claiming asylum in the way that our laws have allowed them to."
Steube said the ICE raids need to happen to protect this country.
"Under the Biden administration, over 12 million illegals flooded our nation, over 400 known terrorists were released into our country, known criminals, known rapists, known murderers," said Steube. "And finally, we have an administration that's going to stand for getting these people out of our country."
But Hernandez said while he’s done everything correctly, the Cuban man was just dealt a bad hand.
"I think there is a lack of awareness because immigration law is extremely convoluted," said Hernandez. "It is very—it is not straightforward in any fashion. Not one person has the same thing, and the client did nothing wrong. He presented his asylum case, it was denied."
"The hardest part is, if I’m deported back to Cuba, I could end up in jail and even lose my life, because of the conditions there," said the Cuban man. "And, not only that, but I wouldn’t be able to support my family. So, I pray every day that I don’t get deported."
Now, the Cuban immigrant is in an appeal process, which means it could be several months before his case is heard.
While he is technically safe from deportation because of his appeal, Hernandez said he is vulnerable because of how aggressive the ICE raids have been.
Pasco County woman trying to rebuild mobile home after hurricanes
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Welty's mobile home lost its roof during Hurricane Milton. She said it was the only one in the Buena Vista community to get totaled by a tornado.
