After Sudden Expulsion from the United States, a Cuban Migrant Rebuilds His Life at Home

Pedaling a passenger tricycle along the sunbaked roads of Las Minas, Liexer De La Cruz maneuvers through the quiet routines of his hometown near Havana. Only months earlier, his daily reality looked entirely different, defined by steady work as a skilled tradesman across the United States. Today, the Cuban native is left to navigate the stark reality of an uprooted existence following a sudden legal turning point.

The dramatic shift culminated inside a federal courtroom in Miami on a January morning. De La Cruz had arrived anticipating an ordinary, procedural immigration hearing. Instead, he found himself confronted with an instantaneous, life-altering choice: agree to return to Cuba or face the lingering threat of involuntary deportation at any moment.

With no opportunity to step outside the courtroom doors to confer with his wife and sister, who were anxiously waiting in the corridor, De La Cruz was forced to decide his fate in a matter of seconds. Weighing the looming prospect of detainment against an organized exit, he made the difficult calculation to accept a return to his homeland.

When the hearing concluded, words were hardly necessary. As De La Cruz exited the chamber, his family members immediately recognized the outcome etched into his expression. The life they had spent years establishing in South Florida had reached an abrupt and permanent end.

That sudden resolution dismantled a five-year effort to build security in America. De La Cruz’s quest had commenced in late 2019, when he and his wife departed Cuba on a multi-stage migration route. Their journey spanned nearly a dozen countries by vehicle, foot, bus, and boat, taking them through South American nations including Suriname, Guyana, and Brazil before they finally crossed the U.S. southern border into Texas in August 2021.

Reaching American soil had been an overwhelmingly emotional milestone. Upon arrival, De La Cruz placed a tearful call to his aunt to announce that he had finally arrived in the United States, celebrating what appeared to be the beginning of a secure future.

Following their entry, the couple settled in South Florida to be close to extended family. De La Cruz earned credentials as a certified electrician, taking on demanding assignments that required him to travel to states as far away as Nebraska and Kentucky. Meanwhile, his wife secured employment as a cook, allowing the household to establish steady financial footing.

Their primary objective was to support family members who remained behind on the island. De La Cruz routinely sent money, footwear, and essential goods to provide for his two teenage daughters. The long-term ambition was to legally bring his daughters and his wife’s teenage daughter to the United States, offering them reliable access to food, running water, and electricity.

For decades, Cuban arrivals benefited from unique immigration pathways under the historic Cuban Adjustment Act. However, shifting federal enforcement under the second Trump administration has placed hundreds of thousands of islanders under heightened scrutiny.

Central to the legal complications is the I-220A release document granted to De La Cruz and many others upon entering the country. According to findings from ReliefWeb, more than half a million Cuban migrants holding this specific paperwork currently endure legal ambiguity, as federal courts continue to deliberate whether the designation qualifies recipients for permanent residency under existing legislation.

The expulsion marked a full circle for De La Cruz, who was raised in the rural environs of Las Minas, situated roughly half an hour outside the Cuban capital. His early years were shaped by outdoor pastimes, including hunting local birds, catching tilapia, and scaling trees. When he was 16, a 50-foot fall from a mango tree resulted in a severe spinal fracture, though he eventually made a full physical recovery.

As an adult, De La Cruz sought economic stability through diverse lines of work. After completing vocational studies in industrial equipment maintenance, he labored at a factory manufacturing PVC pipes before training as a paramedic. Although he took deep satisfaction in medical emergency work, the position offered a salary of just $24 a month, prompting him to transition to working as a taxi driver.

By age 34, persistent economic difficulties, severe gasoline shortages, and an increasingly strained public healthcare system pushed him toward disillusionment. Like many of his peers, he viewed moving abroad as the only viable mechanism for achieving upward mobility and self-improvement through disciplined labor.

Now back in Havana province, De La Cruz spends his days transporting local passengers between Minas and Campo Florido on his tricycle, tending to chickens at his home, and conversing with familiar neighbors. While the abrupt end to his American journey severed long-held family ambitions, he continues to push forward, working to secure a livelihood amid the familiar challenges of his homeland.