Cuban Deported by ICE Ends Up Stranded in Equatorial Guinea Without Papers

Carlos Rodríguez López, a Cuban national deported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was supposed to arrive at an airport in Liberia, but instead found himself stuck in a hotel in Equatorial Guinea without any identification, legal aid, or ability to leave.

The plight of Rodríguez was revealed through a video call with his wife, Igrayne Ribot Hernández, and shared on Facebook by digital creator Raúl Hernández.

Upon reaching Monrovia, Liberia's capital, Rodríguez recounted that authorities refused to accept them and assured they would be sent back to the U.S. However, the flight diverted, landing in Equatorial Guinea instead.

From his hotel room, Rodríguez described the scene to his wife as a forceful operation: "About 50 police officers were waiting, and without explanation, they herded us off the plane, donned in masks, and transported us to a van, eventually bringing us here to a hotel."

He expressed feeling trapped: "We're practically held hostage here, with no information or contact on what we should do or who to reach out to. We're in a place we can't leave, confined to this hotel."

Rodríguez also mentioned a fellow Cuban facing health issues: "Among the four of us Cubans brought here, one has undergone surgery and has his stomach completely exposed."

Ribot, a U.S. citizen, publicly condemned the situation in a video first posted by digital creator Jorge Miyar, known as El Gussi. "My husband has a past criminal record, for which he served time. No one deserves this kind of treatment. He's a human being, not an object," Ribot voiced while narrating the family's ordeal.

She revealed that her husband had been detained by ICE for 16 months, with a habeas corpus filed in the Western District of Louisiana since November 2025, yet unresolved: "Ten months of habeas corpus, and still, nothing."

Rodríguez remains in Equatorial Guinea with no documents or passport. His wife emphasized the urgency of the situation, especially with one of the detained Cubans suffering a severe medical condition.

Ribot directly questioned political figures' inaction: "Where is Marco Rubio? What about Donald Trump’s promises? They're tearing this country and families apart," she lamented.

As a mother of a nine-year-old and a business owner in the U.S., Ribot argued against deporting someone to a third country with no ties, calling it illegal: "What they're doing is illegal, it's inhumane, and we must keep reporting it."

While awaiting updates from the U.S., Ribot remains anxious: "My husband lacks documents, a passport, anything. He's stranded in Africa, abandoned, and it hurts deeply."

The flight, marking the first under a U.S.-Liberia deal to deport up to 1,200 individuals over 12 months, transported about 20 immigrants from Louisiana with a stopover in Dakar, Senegal.

Among those deported were Cubans, confirmed by Reuters through Liberia's Information Minister, highlighting the presence of Cuban nationals.

This incident is part of a broader practice initiated under the Trump administration. The U.S. has established agreements with over 35 countries, deporting more than 23,000 individuals to 26 nations under these arrangements.

For Cubans, the most recent parallel involved deportations to Eswatini since July 2025, where Cuban Roberto Mosquera del Peral was held in a maximum-security prison without formal charges for months.

In February 2026, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled against the policy of deporting to third countries without prior notice or opportunity to contest, though the ruling is temporarily suspended.