Exclusive: Inside the U.S. Deportation Flights to Cuba

Over 150 people were deported from the United States to Cuba on August 28. The eighth deportation flight this year. Cuba has honored its bilateral agreement with the U.S. despite the Trump administration's hostile policy toward the island.

TRANSCRIPT

Over 150 people were deported on Thursday from the United States to Cuba.

The Trump administration is waging economic war on Cuba to try to bring about regime change.

But Cuba continues to receive monthly deportation flights.

Cuba has fully and respectfully honored our bilateral agreements with the U.S. Our collaboration in these operations is not affected by the state of our relations with the U.S. 

This is the eighth deportation flight we’ve received this year and the 59th since 2017 when the two countries agreed to these flights, said Cuban immigration officer. 

They flew in handcuffs. But Cuba demands the handcuffs are removed before they get off the plane.

How did you get to the U.S.? Through humanitarian parole.

What explanation did they offer about your detention? None. They made it illegal. They revoked the parole program.

How long were you in the U.S.? Two years.

How did you arrive? Was it legal? Yes. Legally. But I don’t ever want to go to the U.S. again.

When were you detained? Three months ago. 

Where were you? I was in the street, sitting in a car.

The [U.S.] immigration officers mistreated me. They twisted my arm to take my fingerprints 

and take my daughter away. They said she was an American citizen and she couldn’t leave the country. 

I want my daughter. I didn’t want anything from the U.S. I told them I just wanted my daughter and I would leave with her. If they don’t give me back my daughter, I’ll risk my life again, I’ll go even if they put me in prison. I’m going to go back to get her. 

More than a million Cubans have left the island in the past five years, the biggest emigration wave in Cuban history. 

Most of them have gone to the United States.

Cubans have long had a relatively privileged immigration status in the U.S.

But that is changing.

Trump has revoked the legal status and work permits of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, putting them at risk of deportation.

Deportation is an ugly affair. Sometimes Cubans think everything's better abroad.But then we face the harsh reality of another country. There’s no country like Cuba.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration unilaterally ended the bilateral migration talks that were held regularly under Biden.

Meanwhile, Trump has ramped up sanctions on the island.

Cuba has had the will to talk at any moment. But in the case of this administration, they have decided not to, so far. The will of Cuba continues to be that, the discussion, the negotiation on the possibility of an exchange on very difficult and complex issues that for years both countries have had, is something that we are still are open to.

The [U.S.] Secretary of State and the [U.S.] chargé d’affaires have said that they want the best and they want the well-being of the Cuban people. This is a clear lie because you cannot sanction a country,  you cannot impose a harsh blockade to a whole population, and at the same time, say that you want the best for the Cuban people. The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

What will you do now? Work. And I’ll stay in my country. I’m not going anywhere else.

Who have you left behind in the U.S.? My son and my grandchildren. 

Have you talked to them? Not yet. They don’t know I’m here yet because I’ve been in this process since Monday.

Where are you going now? My home. I have a cousin here. I’ll just keep moving forward. This is our country.