Arrest of Cubans at ICE Supervision Appointments Continue
HAVANA TIMES — While many families were preparing for the Christmas holidays, Belixa Cubena’s greatest wish is for her husband, Daniel Alejandro Escobar, to be released from the detention center where he has been held since early December 2025.
Daniel, a 25-year-old Cuban, arrived in the United States in 2022 together with his wife. He entered through the southern border irregularly and turned himself in to immigration authorities. He was released days later with an I-220A document.
The I-220A is an “order of release on recognizance” that the US government granted to certain people who were detained and later released by immigration officers. The form generally includes certain requirements and conditions in exchange for release from detention, such as the obligation to attend immigration court hearings.
According to Belixa, they immediately began the asylum process and have complied with all the legal requirements their case demands. The couple had achieved a degree of stability in Miami and had recently launched a small jewelry business, with the intention of moving forward and building a life in South Florida.
An unexpected court decision
On the day of his first hearing before the immigration court, the situation took an unexpected turn. In conversation with elTOQUE, Belixa said that other people with similar proceedings left the courtroom with new court dates; by contrast, Daniel’s case was dismissed, and upon leaving the courtroom, agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained him and transferred him to Alligator Alcatraz, in the Everglades.
“It all happened very fast. They gave us no explanation,” Belixa says. Daniel has no criminal record or immigration violations on file—not even a traffic ticket, his wife assures.
Alligator Alcatraz: a center under scrutiny
Belixa reports poor hygiene and limited access to basic items at Alligator, including the ability to bathe. In a recent report, Amnesty International described the conditions there as “inhumane” and denounced patterns of abuse at the facility.
For human rights organizations, Alligator has become an example of how immigration detention in the US can lead to treatment that violates human dignity.
What happened to Daniel reflects a growing concern within the Cuban migrant community in the United States: complying with the law does not guarantee protection, because the I-220A does not prevent sudden detentions, and after a hearing one can end up in jail. “Our lives changed in a minute,” Belixa says.
Although Daniel’s legal future remains uncertain, his wife continues working and managing their new business while seeking legal support.
So far, no immigration authority has offered detailed public information about the reasons for the dismissal of the case or the specific legal basis for the subsequent detention. The absence of official explanations raises significant questions about the procedure and how measures are being applied in similar cases. Attention now focuses on whether a formal response will be issued or whether judicial review will clarify the process.
Daniel’s arrest fits into a broader pattern that has affected several Cubans with I-220A forms in recent months. Previously, we have documented similar cases, many of them covered in live broadcasts alongside spouses and relatives who denounced detentions during routine immigration appointments, despite the fact that those affected were complying with their immigration obligations.
In various live streams and public interviews with journalist Mario J. Penton, attorneys from Gallardo Law Firm—who are handling Daniel’s case—have warned that the I-220A does not constitute an immigration status or parole, but rather an order of release on recognizance that leaves its beneficiaries in a legally fragile situation. As they have explained, this condition allows immigration authorities to carry out detentions even when the person has no criminal record and has an open immigration case.
In the cases documented by El Toque, concerns related to due process are repeated, such as the lack of clear information for families after an arrest, transfers between detention centers without prior notice, and limitations on immediate access to legal representation.
Of the cases of Cubans with I-220A documented by El Toque, most of those detained remain in immigration custody, with no defined resolution date. The only exception known to date is that of a 17-year-old adolescent, whose release occurred after public pressure and the intervention of Florida members of Congress; the rest remain detained, and some have been deported.
First published in Spanish by El Toque and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.