Video shows ICE detaining Cuban immigrant after Miami court asylum hearing
A Cuban immigrant was abruptly detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the hallway of a Miami federal courthouse Monday, following what was supposed to be his final immigration hearing.
"This is unfair… It's not fair," screamed Daysis Salvador, the wife of 44-year-old Didie Espinoza, as she recorded video of her husband being handcuffed and taken into an elevator by plainclothes ICE agents with covered faces.
Surprise detention after case dismissed
"As they see you come out of court, these men immediately run to detain you," Salvador told CBS News Miami.
A U.S. citizen, Salvador met Espinoza two years ago and the couple married this June after waiting for his divorce to finalize.
Espinoza, originally from Cuba, arrived at the U.S. southern border in May 2022 and requested political asylum. He was granted I-220A status, a parole designation given to thousands of Cuban migrants at the time.
Under current federal policy, that status disqualifies him from applying under the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows Cuban nationals who enter with a visa to adjust their status more easily.
"This is an immigrant who came to the United States in May of 2022. He came to the southern border to request political asylum," said immigration attorney Laura Jimenez, who represented Espinoza in court.
"By September of 2022, being diligent on his case, he submitted his asylum application."
According to Jimenez, Espinoza had received notice to appear in court for a hearing on June 16. She says that during the hearing, the government's prosecutor announced, "The federal government is dismissing the case."
"Since the asylum is filed with the immigration court, which is the one that has jurisdiction over the case, if they dismiss the case, there's no asylum," Jimenez explained. She has since filed an appeal and told Salvador that while the case is pending, Espinoza should not be deported.
Plea to lawmakers
Espinoza is currently being held at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach.
"My message is to our legislators, Maria Elvira Salazar, (Mario) Diaz-Balart and others, please comply with everything you promised… my husband has not committed any crime… he has been a law-abiding citizen who wanted to live in a free country," Salvador said.
She is now calling on South Florida's Cuban American members of Congress to intervene in her husband's case.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
12 minutes ago
- CBS News
Beverly Grove residents express concerns over abandoned apartment buildings overtaken by squatters
Some Beverly Grove residents are expressing their concerns over a group of abandoned apartment buildings that have been overtaken by squatters. They say that their usually quiet street has been hit with a rash of fights, fires and people using drugs because of the nearly 20 people that took up house in the vacant buildings at the corner of Flores Street and W. Third Street. "It's horrible and it's very scary," said Lauren Green, who lives near the complex of apartments. "The buildings are not secure and there's not a solid fence to keep vagrants, homeless, unhoused, whatever you want to call anybody that is living without paying rent on a beautiful, beautiful street." Though the buildings are surrounded by a large fence, residents say that hasn't stopped anyone from gaining access. Green says that she has had to change the route she typically took when walking her dog because of the people living inside. "I've seen some horrible, horrible people doing horrible things and they have come after me," she claimed. She's one of many who say that the issues come at any time of the day, along with Margaret Ruskin. "It's become a real serious public safety issue, I mean they knock on windows when they are too, I am assuming, drugged up to know how to get back in," Ruskin said. Since the group of squatters moved in a few months ago, residents say they have counted at least seven fires stemming from the buildings. Beverly Grove city leaders say that the issue lies with the property owner. "We've made it clear that the owner must take full responsibility for addressing safety and nuisance issues on-site," said a statement shared by a spokesperson for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky. "Our office has also flagged the matter with the Department of Building and Safety and Code Enforcement and LAPD." CBS News Los Angeles has reached out to the property manager but has not yet heard back.
Bloomberg
16 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
US Officials Said to Be Preparing for Iran Strike
Good morning. US officials are said to be preparing for a possible strike on Iran. The Federal Reserve signals higher prices are coming. And UBS says the world added more than 684,000 new millionaires last year. Listen to the day's top stories. US officials are preparing for a possible strike on Iran as soon as this weekend, people familiar said. Donald Trump had earlier approved attack plans but withheld the final authorization, the WSJ reported.
Washington Post
19 minutes ago
- Washington Post
US starts evacuating some diplomats from its embassy in Israel as Iran conflict intensifies
WASHINGTON — The State Department has begun evacuating nonessential diplomats and their families from the U.S. embassy in Israel as hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify and President Donald Trump warns of the possibility of getting directly involved in the conflict. A government plane evacuated a number of diplomats and family members who had asked to leave the country Wednesday, said two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic movements. There was no indication of how many diplomats and family members departed on the flight or how many may have left by land routes to Jordan or Egypt. The flight came shortly before U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on X that the embassy was making plans for evacuations by plane and ship for private American citizens. Hours after Huckabee's tweet, however, the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs tweeted that 'we have no announcement about assisting private U.S. citizens to depart at this time' from Israel or the Palestinian territories. The State Department didn't explain the discrepancy but said in response to questions that it is considering all options and 'will alert the U.S. citizen community if there is additional information to share regarding departure options.' It added that it is providing information about routes out of Israel to Americans who want to leave 'by their own means' and urged them to go as soon as it's safe to do so. Of the diplomats, the State Department said earlier that 'given the ongoing situation and as part of the embassy's authorized departure status, mission personnel have begun departing Israel through a variety of means.' 'Authorized departure' means that nonessential staff and the families of all personnel are eligible to leave at government expense. The evacuations, comments from the White House and shifting of American military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East have heightened the possibility of deepening U.S. involvement in a conflict that threatens to spill into a wider regional war . Trump has issued increasingly pointed warnings about the U.S. joining Israel in striking at Iran's nuclear program, saying Wednesday that he doesn't want to carry out a U.S. strike on the Islamic Republic but suggesting he is ready to act if it's necessary. The State Department also has steadily ramped up its warnings to American citizens in Israel and throughout the region, including in Iraq. Last week, ahead of Israel's first strikes on Iran, the department and the Pentagon put out notices announcing that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad had ordered all nonessential personnel to leave and that the Defense Department had 'authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the Middle East . Those warnings have increased as the conflict has intensified, with the embassy in Jerusalem authorizing the departure of nonessential staff and families over the weekend and ordering remaining personnel to shelter in place until further notice. The embassy has been closed since Monday and will remain shut through Friday.
