{"id":9456,"date":"2025-10-18T05:40:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T05:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/9456\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T05:40:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T05:40:18","slug":"floridas-cubans-are-now-divided-on-trump-he-acts-like-fidel-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/9456\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s Cubans are now divided on Trump: \u2018He acts like Fidel\u2019\u00a0 | U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS<\/a>), the agency in charge of processing immigration applications, goes around asking coworkers and neighbors whether someone is eligible for U.S. citizenship or not, in the style of the Cuban Committees for the Defense of the Revolution<\/a> (CDR). The American government attacks the LGBTQ+ community\u2026 just like the Cuban government did in the 1960s. Donald Trump has flirted with staying longer in the White House<\/a>, in the same way in which Fidel Castro \u2014 having tasted so much power during his lifetime \u2014 decided to lead Cuba for nearly half a century. The former has already devoted efforts toward attacking opposing ideologies and freedom of expression, concepts that the latter completely nullified. One man worships what the other turned into a religion: exaltation, maximum control, a sea of fanatics, as well as the certainty that there\u2019s no reason for the \u201cdictator\u201d label. <\/p>\n

These comparisons are, among other reasons, why Carlos Icaza, a 63-year-old Cuban-American barber (almost the same age as the Revolution), finds it inconceivable that a large part of his community in the United States still defends the Republican. He knows a dictator when he sees one. \u201cCubans have never known what a democracy is,\u201d he asserts. \u201cThey need a [strong]man to tell them what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the only one who thinks so. Daimarys Hern\u00e1ndez, a manicurist whose husband is about to be deported from the Krome Detention Center in Florida<\/a>, finds it incredible that her people \u201cdon\u2019t understand how a dictator acts.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe same Cubans who have been here for years don\u2019t realize that Trump acts the same way as Fidel did,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been almost nine months since Trump was sworn into office. In the 2024 presidential elections, 68% of Cuban-Americans in Florida gave the Republican their vote. However, since his return to power, those arriving from the island have not been exempt from deportations, self-deportations, the denial of political asylum, confinement in detention centers, as well as fear of what might happen to them when they go to work or school, or when they enter or leave the country. <\/p>\n

Jorge Duany, former director of the Cuban Research Institute (CRI) and professor of anthropology in the Department of Global & Sociocultural Studies at Florida International University (FIU), believes that, to date, there\u2019s insufficient evidence that voters have changed their preference for the current U.S. leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe available polls show that the majority of voters in the last presidential election would vote the same way if the election were held today,\u201d he points out. <\/p>\n

Jessica Ruiz, however, no longer falls into that group. She wouldn\u2019t recast her vote for Trump. \u201cI voted with the hope that his administration would bring real improvements to the economy, more job opportunities and a more stable future for our families,\u201d she sighs. \u201cBut as the months have gone by, my experience has been very different from what I expected. Instead of feeling more security and progress, I\u2019ve seen an environment of division, decisions that don\u2019t always favor ordinary workers, and an economy that hasn\u2019t felt as strong as he promised. Today, with the clarity that experience gives me, I can say that if I had the opportunity to withdraw my vote, I would.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first glance, nothing has changed in Florida since the Biden administration concluded back in January. Egg cartons are just as expensive<\/a>. Gasoline prices haven\u2019t gone down. Rent is rising daily. These were the issues that Cuban-Americans were concerned about and voted on in the November elections, a time when \u2014 unlike other years when Cuba policy steered their vote \u2014 they were most concerned about the country\u2019s economy. This, at least, is according to a survey by FIU. After nine months in office, however, Guillermo Grenier, the sociologist at FIU who led the survey, affirms that Trump \u201chasn\u2019t delivered on his promises to reinvigorate the economy.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy is much worse now than when Biden left office,\u201d he says. But Grenier insists that this fact doesn\u2019t mean the community \u201cfeels let down,\u201d nor does it guarantee \u201ca widespread departure from Trumpism or the Republican Party.\u201d <\/p>\n

Still, beyond the price of gas, eggs and rent, Florida today is also a very different place than it was a few months ago. At Miami International Airport, several Cubans have already received warnings or threats about having their green cards revoked when traveling to Cuba. Others have been detained by ICE agents outside immigration court<\/a>. There\u2019s no shortage of divided families, where an uncle who voted for Trump has his nephew on the verge of deportation. In just eight days, the most feared prison of the Trump era \u2014 the South Florida Detention Facility, nicknamed \u201cAlligator Alcatraz<\/a>\u201d \u2014 was built in their backyard. There, several Cubans have ended up suffering the nightmare of rampant mosquitoes, a lack of food, and unhygienic conditions. <\/p>\n

None of this, according to locals, had ever happened to them before. But in the Sunshine State, just as some are disappointed, there are also those who profess the religion of every man for himself. <\/p>\n

A few days ago, Daimarys had a client come to get a hand and foot treatment. \u201cShe told me, \u2018[We should] deport everyone who doesn\u2019t have papers.\u2019\u201d Daimarys confronted her: \u201cWhy are you talking like this? Because you have papers? They\u2019re illegal because they don\u2019t have the opportunities we Cubans had. But those people come here to do the work that neither my children or yours \u2014 who were born here \u2014 will ever do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never imagined that, after leaving Cuba, I would experience what we\u2019re experiencing here\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration \u2014 in an initiative led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the former senator from Florida who is of Cuban descent \u2014 has enacted several measures in recent months aimed at suffocating Havana. This was, and has always been, another means of securing the Cuban vote in Florida. But the truth is that Cuba isn\u2019t at the center of Oval Office conversations. Trump isn\u2019t offering millions of dollars for Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel\u2019s arrest (like he is for Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>), nor has he managed to satisfy the long-standing desire to overthrow the dictatorship.<\/p>\n

\"\u2018No\u2018No Kings\u2019 protest against Trump in Miami, Florida, on June 14.Jeff Greenberg (Universal Images Group \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Cubans \u2014 who have experienced an exodus of nearly two million people from the island in recent years \u2014 haven\u2019t lost hope of moving to the U.S. According to a study by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), 78% of those interviewed still want to emigrate, amid a crisis that has affected all levels and sectors of society. Due to the benefits that the community has received in the United States for decades, the majority prefer this country as a destination. But now, the chances of arriving are almost zero, amid a national expulsion campaign.<\/p>\n

Based on data from recent months, the outlook for the Cuban community in the U.S. is as follows: more than 500 people have been deported to the island, which, added to those deported by Trump during his previous term, brings the total to more than 4,200, the highest number ever.<\/p>\n

Cubans have also been sent to South Sudan, or to Eswatini<\/a>, in Southern Africa. Others have been handed over to the Mexican authorities. A total of 42,084 are currently in the U.S. with final deportation orders. Family reunifications have been interrupted by the \u201ctravel ban,\u201d which affects applications from residents, as well as business or student visas. There\u2019s polarization from shore to shore: former militants in communist organizations have been banned from traveling to the United States, while in Miami, a hunt has been declared for Castroist repressors to be deported.<\/p>\n

Currently, nearly 550,000 Cubans on U.S. soil are unable to become legal residents. They\u2019re affected by various statuses, while some have deportation orders in hand, or supervised release permits. They\u2019ve also been harmed by the elimination of humanitarian parole or the CBP One app, which has left them struggling with the expiration of work permits or driver\u2019s licenses.<\/p>\n

Florida immigration attorney Liudmila Marcelo asserts that, perhaps like never before, the \u201csituation for Cubans is almost the same as for other immigrants\u201d in the country. The exception is that some may still be able to navigate the path toward the Cuban Adjustment Act<\/a>, such as previous beneficiaries of humanitarian parole or CBP One. \u201cNow, this doesn\u2019t mean that these two groups of Cubans are completely safe,\u201d she clarifies. \u201cThere are reports of arrests of Cubans who entered under this category. I\u2019ve been contacted by relatives of some people who\u2019ve been detained simply for a traffic [violation].\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcelo also asserts that the number of asylum applications granted in the community \u201cremains lower than the number of asylum applications denied.\u201d Several longtime opponents or protesters \u2014 many of whom were present at the massive protests held in Cuba on July 11, 2021 \u2014 have had to flee the long prison sentences imposed by D\u00edaz-Canel\u2019s government. Once in the United States, however, some judges don\u2019t feel that there are sufficient grounds to grant them protection. \u201cIt\u2019s often frustrating that well-founded cases aren\u2019t evaluated in the courts the way they deserve to be,\u201d the lawyer says. <\/p>\n

Yaquel\u00edn Boni, a 59-year-old Cuban member of the opposition group Ladies in White, left the island after one of her sons was imprisoned for political reasons. She now has another son in the hands of ICE. What she\u2019s seen under this second Trump administration has made her reject the possibility of naturalization. \u201cI\u2019m no longer interested in being a citizen,\u201d she laments from West Palm Beach, where she lives. \u201cI\u2019m not going to swear allegiance to this… I never imagined that, after leaving Cuba, I would experience what we\u2019re experiencing here.\u201d<\/p>\n

In such an unstable political climate, one of the most heated debates in recent days has focused on the questions surrounding the Cuban Adjustment Act. Passed by Congress in 1966, it has since guaranteed Cubans\u2019 path to regularization. Within a divided community, there are those who question whether the legislation makes sense today \u2014 when other dictatorships have emerged on the continent \u2014 or those who downplay the refugee status of Cuban emigrants. And there are also those who assert that, should they benefit from this type of law, Cubans should stop visiting the island from which they fled. Others insist that nothing will stop them from returning to the arms of their families. Generally, though, there\u2019s a common sentiment among Cubans: the fear of losing a policy that has protected them for decades.<\/p>\n

However, attorney Marcelo asserts that this concern is simply part of the overall fear amid the anti-immigrant crusade in the country. \u201cIt\u2019s a way to sow panic and gather supporters for local political campaigns,\u201d she maintains. The lawyer asserts that, although there are other factors that can jeopardize obtaining residency \u2014 such as the \u201cdiscretionary element\u201d of the USCIS officer, who evaluates the individual\u2019s behavior for a period of one year \u2014 there isn\u2019t \u201can imminent risk\u201d that the Adjustment Act will be eliminated. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis law is ironclad,\u201d Marcelo emphasizes. \u201cOnly the announcement of free and democratic elections in Cuba and a consensus in Congress can repeal it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency in charge of processing immigration applications, goes around asking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1016,409,9394,28,30,29,1877,8877,9395,4389],"class_list":["post-9456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-cuba","tag-donald-trump","tag-fidel-castro","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-ice","tag-marco-rubio","tag-miguel-diaz-canel","tag-nicolas-maduro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}