MIAMI — The federal government has recently detained Cubans with I-220A documents during immigration check-ins in Miami, creating panic and uncertainty in South Florida’s immigrant communities
Immigration lawyers estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have gotten the I-220A form after being processed at the U.S.-Mexico border. That paperwork has made it difficult for recently arrived Cubans to fix their immigration status, including getting a green card though the decades-old Cuban Adjustment Act, like generations of people from the island before have been able to do.
Here’s a breakdown looking at the paperwork, what it means and other questions our readers have about I-220As.
What is an I-220A form?
An I-220A, or an “Order of Release on Recognizance,” is a form that simply documents that a migrant has been released into the United States by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — but it does not confer lawful or permanent immigration status. Border authorities have given it to hundreds of thousand of Cuban nationals after processing them at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Cubans were placed in what are called “removal proceedings” — a legal process to determine if an immigrant should be deported — and released with certain conditions, including attending immigration court hearings and checking in with authorities.
Some Cuban immigrants used the paperwork to apply for green cards — and got them granted — through the Cuban Adjustment Act, a 1966 law that allows Cubans to apply for permanent residency a year and a day after arriving in the United States. However, in September 2023, immigration appeals court judges ruled that I-220As could not be used to get green cards. That means that Cubans who entered the U.S. with that document have had to find other ways to permanently stay in the U.S., including seeking political asylum or having a family member request a green card on their behalf.
Why did border authorities give Cubans I-220A forms at the border?
Generally, Cubans who have come in through the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years have been given either I-220As or humanitarian paroles, which are temporary entry permits granted for urgent humanitarian needs. The parole permits allow Cubans to apply for permanent residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act as long as they meet other requirements under the law. But Cubans cannot get green cards under the Cuban Adjustment Act using their I-220As in place of parole documents, the board of immigration appeals ruled.
Lawyers and Cuban immigrants who came in through the border have told the Herald that there appears to be no rhyme or reason as to why border authorities gave some people I-220As while others got humanitarian paroles. In some cases people in the same family or group who crossed the border together ended up getting different documents, which means that those who got parole have a much easier time finding a way to permanently stay in the United States. There have been cases where a woman has been given one kind of paperwork while her husband got another.
In court documents over I-220A litigation, the Department of Homeland Security has said that it has discretion to decide who gets what kind of paperwork when processing migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Lawyers aren’t buying it.
“There is no pattern that we can decipher from this,” said Miami-based immigration attorney Mark Prada, who has argued in several lawsuits against DHS that releasing Cubans with just an I-220A form is illegal. Prada has ongoing litigation where he has asserted that the federal government gave those Cubans the wrong documentation when released, and that they should have been issued a humanitarian parole instead.
Why are Cubans with I-220As being detained?
The detentions appear to be a change in immigration priorities under the new Trump administration, lawyers say.
Wilfredo Allen, a long-time Miami immigration lawyer, told the Miami Herald that ICE had recently detained one of his clients with I-220A paperwork, a Cuban woman seeking asylum with pending court proceedings, and that he knows of other similar cases.
“It’s the first time I see that people with I-220As, with no criminal records, and pending court hearings or green cards have been detained,” said Allen. “That creates a huge panic.”
The Trump administration has put pressure on immigration officials to ramp up detentions and deportation numbers. So people who were not a detention priority under the Biden administration — which focused on recent arrivals at the border and public safety threats — are now being detained.
“They were always vulnerable. It’s just somebody has decided to take action,” said Prada. “It’s all discretion and priority decisions. And right now the priority is to deport every person under the sun.”
What advice do lawyers have for Cubans with I-220As?
Prada told the Herald that giving hundreds of thousands of Cubans I-220A forms is a way for the executive branch, which includes the Department of Homeland Security, to get around the Cuban Adjustment Act through the back door, since it is a federal law that only Congress can repeal.
Allen said that Cubans with I-220As should continue following the law and attending their immigration check-ins, but that they should be “cautious.”
Immigration lawyers say Cubans should seek other ways to adjust their immigration status, such as filing a political asylum claim or having a family members request a green card for them if possible.
Prada’s bottom line: “Hire a competent lawyer who understands the situation — and fight.”
By SYRA ORTIZ BLANES/Miami Herald
Syra Ortiz Blanes covers immigration for the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. Previously, she was the Puerto Rico and Spanish Caribbean reporter for the Heralds through Report for America.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article302360244.html#storylink=cpy