Cuban Woman's Harrowing Border Crossing Experience: "The Most Distressing Day of My Life"

A Cuban woman, known as Lety (@lety_palmbeach), took to TikTok to recount her arduous journey crossing the border into the United States. Her trek on July 5, 2013, via the international bridge linking Matamoros, Mexico, to Brownsville, Texas, was marked by an unsettling encounter with an immigration officer who doubted her Cuban identity.

Lety departed from Cuba on July 4, 2013, flying with Copa Airlines from Havana to Mexico City. From there, she was supposed to catch a connecting flight to Matamoros at noon. However, the aircraft attempted to take off four times unsuccessfully, causing panic among the passengers. “Everyone on board started protesting, saying we didn’t want to stay on that plane because we were scared,” she recalled. The airline provided hotel accommodations and rescheduled their flight for 6 a.m. the following day.

Challenges at the Border

Upon reaching the Matamoros-Brownsville pedestrian bridge, Lety paid 25 cents to pass through the turnstile, a common practice at the time, and approached the immigration desk. An officer questioned her briefly before grabbing her arm and escorting her out. “Miss, you won’t waste any more of my time. You’re not Cuban because you speak too slowly and softly,” he allegedly told her.

The officer claimed that many South American migrants often arrived with fraudulent Cuban documents to benefit from the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, effective since 1995. This policy allowed Cubans who reached U.S. soil to gain legal residency. “People from South America come here with all these fake documents, pretending to be Cuban to enter the U.S., but you’re not Cuban,” he asserted before sending her back to the Mexican side without a phone or coins.

Struggle for Validation

Stranded on the bridge, a passing driver lent her a phone to call her husband in the U.S. The agents handling her migration process warned her: “Leticia, you’re the only person we know sent back to Mexico claiming you’re not Cuban. Not even Barack Obama could help you if he were there. You need to come back because otherwise, you’ll never enter this country.”

Without the necessary 25-cent coin to re-enter, a generous passerby gave her one. Upon returning, Lety was fortunate that the skeptical officer was not present. She approached a female officer and laid out dipyrone tablets and personal items labeled from Havana. “Do you think anyone who isn’t Cuban would have items that are only available on the island?” she asked.

The officer invited her to sit down. By 11 p.m., after completing all formalities, Lety was officially admitted into the United States. Her husband, who had driven a truck to Brownsville, awaited her with a hotel room near the border.

The "wet foot, dry foot" policy was abolished on January 12, 2017, by President Obama, closing a legal entry route that had allowed thousands of Cubans to arrive via Mexico over more than two decades.

“It was the most distressing day of my life that I can remember. It marked my entry into this country,” Lety concluded. “Since I set foot in the U.S., I have been living the American dream.”