No one is completely safe from ICE raids
- Written by Raúl Antonio Capote
- Published in Cuba
- Hits: 232
The anti-immigrant drama in the United States has a long history of tragic stories: families separated, artists detained, patients handcuffed on gurneys, children taken to court…
The summer of 2026 will be etched in the memory of the immigrant community in the United States as the turning point in a policy that has blurred all borders.
What began in January 2025, with the Trump administration's revocation of the guidelines protecting so-called "sensitive spaces," has escalated into a pattern that transforms hospitals, airports, and courts into arenas of arbitrariness and violations of the most basic rights.
The decision, announced as part of a promise to carry out "the largest deportation operation in history," opened the door for federal agents to enter places where they previously could not operate.
The result was swift. In July 2016, ICE recorded more than 46,000 arrests, the highest monthly figure of Trump's second term.
The case of Grace Stephanie Calero Cabanilla, 39, and her daughter Giulianna Mia Carriel Calero, 19, is one example. Both survived a car accident in Florida.
They were rushed to HCA Florida Poinciana Hospital, where Grace was diagnosed with cervical injuries and Giulianna suffered a nervous breakdown due to the emotional impact, according to La Tercera.
Immigration agents stormed into that emergency room. A widely circulated video shows both women handcuffed and escorted out of the medical center, to the astonishment of patients and hospital staff.
Nowhere is safe: airports, parks, schools, medical centers, churches—all can be raided by immigration agents without a warrant.
Cuban percussionist Degnis Bofill Miranda, 38, a 2022 Latin Grammy winner who legally entered the U.S. on an artist exchange visa, was detained on August 19 at Miami International Airport upon returning from a performance in New York. Cuban pianist Andy García Palacios was arrested alongside him.
A Cato Institute report revealed that, since December 2024, green card approvals for Cubans have fallen by 99.8%, while ICE apprehensions of people from the island have increased by 463%.
Meanwhile, apprehensions of people from Cuba rose from fewer than 200 per month at the end of 2024 to more than 1,000 per month by the end of 2025.
From January 2025 to February 2026, more than 1,700 have been deported, and according to official figures, more than 42,000 with final deportation orders remain pending removal.
Furthermore, the escalation has dragged minors into the eye of the storm under the Trump administration. More than 6,200 children have been detained by ICE.
Cuban Political Bureau member and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, in a statement this week, denounced the "discriminatory" treatment of Cubans arriving in the United States and claimed that migration has been manipulated "for political purposes."
What remains, beyond the numbers, is the testimony of those living through the ordeal: separated families, detained artists, patients handcuffed to gurneys, children without legal representation.
Immigrants are paying a very high price in the land of the free; a price measured in human lives, in the fear that paralyzes entire communities, in the erosion of trust in institutions. It is a bill that has not yet been paid. (Source : Granma)
