Iván Rodríguez Ponce speaks with a shaky voice, as if he's still grappling with the reality of his situation. At 33, he was deported from the United States back to Cuba on August 30, the very nation he fled seeking safety. "I lost everything I worked for over three and a half years. Now, I'm here with nothing, no documents, police trailing me... I feel as though I've been born again," he revealed in an interview with Telemundo.
His account paints a vivid picture of the plight faced by hundreds of Cubans who arrived in the U.S. with hopes for a better future, only to be sent back to the island in handcuffs. Iván insists he never signed any paperwork, and was shackled and placed on a plane without being informed of his destination. It wasn't until he was mid-flight that he realized he was heading back to Havana. "They put me on a plane in handcuffs, without telling me where I was going," he recounted.
While living in the U.S., Iván managed to secure a work permit and made a living as a maintenance engineer. He had rooted himself in Austin, Texas, trying to rebuild his life after fleeing a regime he described as authoritarian. However, his world crumbled when he was detained for five months and eventually deported. "All my sacrifices, everything I had, I lost it all," he mourned.
Returning without documentation has been even more challenging. According to Iván, U.S. immigration authorities confiscated his papers, leaving him feeling "undocumented in Cuba," exposed to a system he knows well and once tried to escape. "With all the evidence and proof, I sought political asylum, but everything was denied," he explained.
His story is part of the latest and most publicized deportation flight from the United States, during which over 150 Cubans were sent back to the island. Although Havana's Ministry of the Interior merely referred to it as "fulfillment of migratory agreements," international media have captured a different narrative filled with tears, handcuffs, and shattered families.
Amidst the largest migration wave in Cuba's history, stories like Iván's echo the experiences of countless men and women who stake everything, risk their lives, and ultimately return empty-handed to the very country they left behind.
Cuban Deportation and Its Aftermath
Why did Iván Rodríguez Ponce feel like he was born again?
Iván felt like he was born again because he returned to Cuba with nothing, without any documentation, and with the police monitoring him, similar to starting life over from scratch.
What challenges did Iván face upon his return to Cuba?
Iván faced the challenge of being undocumented in Cuba, feeling vulnerable within a system he had previously tried to escape, and losing all his hard-earned progress from the United States.