Miami/After spending 10 months in prison, Cuban dissident Elionay González Crespo was released this Monday and will not be deported to the island. The activist, who is in the United States with an I-220A document – also known as parole – left the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) Processing Center in Louisiana on Monday.
According to what he told 14ymedio González’s wife, Daraymis Nogueira, the office of Cuban-American Congressman Carlos Giménez helped pressure authorities into reviewing the case. “It was not necessary to resort to a habeas corpus“said Nogueira, the appeal that is presented before a judge to challenge illegal or prolonged detentions by ICE.
On February 27, the activist won asylum, despite which he remained detained. During his stay in prison, in fact, he was pressured to sign the document for his self-deportation.
A member of the Anti-Communist Movement I220A, González entered the United States in May 2022 through the southwest border, and after security protocols they gave him an I-220A form, which although it served them to remain in the country, the authorities do not take it as proof of legal entry and does not allow them to obtain residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act.
On June 16, the opponent appeared at his hearing before the Immigration Court in Miami, Florida, where he was informed that his asylum request had been “dismissed.” Upon leaving the scene, he was arrested by ICE agents and taken to Louisiana.
On June 16, he appeared at his hearing before the Immigration Court in Miami, Florida, and was informed that his asylum application had been “dismissed.”
The wife did not know of González’s whereabouts until 11 p.m. that day, when the detainee was allowed to make a three-minute call. Since then, the woman began the process seeking to avoid deportation.
“It has been a very long process of ten months, where we have had a lot of money expenses,” said the woman. To cover the costs of the process, he said, “we had to sell everything we had, even Elionay’s car.”
On the Island, González actively participated in initiatives critical of the regime, and participated in the demonstrations on July 11, 2021. After these events, he was subject to harassment by State Security. According to his wife, the pressure was unsustainable. González told The Touch that on the Island “he was no longer allowed to live or work in peace.”
