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Wave of Cuban migrant detentions stokes fears that deportations to the island will resume – Miami Herald

By Syra Ortiz-Blanes & Nora Gámez Torres

When Dachel Caballero headed to an appointment at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Miramar earlier this week, the 30-year-old Cuban man thought he’d go back home to his wife and newborn child.

But once inside, Caballero knew something was wrong when officials stripped him of his belongings. He was then taken to Broward Transitional Center, a detention facility for immigrants in Pompano Beach.

Caballero is one of several Cubans who were detained under former President Donald Trump — and who now face the prospect of being sent to Cuba, as the Biden administration appears to be weighing resuming deportation flights to curb a mass exodus from the island. […]

The sudden detention of the Cuban migrants has sent shock waves among immigrants, families, activists and legal service providers in South Florida, as they demand answers from the federal government.

‘They are all remaking their lives. Doing this to them again seems to me like incredible cruelty,’ said Maria Bilbao, campaign coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee.

‘We are extremely concerned that deportation flights to Cuba have been restarted, and this is a shock to families and is making people understandably fearful,’ said Lily Hartmann, a human rights advocate at Americans for Immigrant Justice.”

Click here to read the full article in the Miami Herald.