MIAMI, USA – Since 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has seen an unprecedented surge in asylum applications from Cubans. In 2023 alone, over 78,000 Cubans sought asylum in the country, with the total number exceeding 146,000 in the past four years, according to official data.

Experts consulted by Martí Noticias suggest that for many immigrants, this option is "a way to buy time" rather than a definitive solution.

Currently, there are over one million pending asylum applications in the United States, a record high. In 2010, the annual backlog of cases was around 16,000, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Despite the political situation in Cuba, not all applicants manage to obtain asylum.

Immigration lawyer Eduardo Álvarez explained to Martí Noticias that "the law requires evidence that if you are returned to Cuba, you will suffer individually, due to a circumstance that is specific to the applicant, and not to generalized conditions in the country." According to the expert, "even cases with strong evidence do not win."

Avelino González, an immigration lawyer from South Florida, stated that asylum "is, in most cases, a juggling act by lawyers to buy time because it is unknown what will happen." The expert also affirmed that "the real possibilities are very slim."

The asylum approval rate varies depending on the state where it is requested. "Even in New York, one of the places with the highest success rates, only around 20 or 30% of cases are won," Álvarez detailed. In Miami, the approval rate is less than 10%.

According to González, many applicants, especially those with an "Order of Release on Recognizance" (known as I-220A), seek to "buy time until something happens that changes their situation, such as the issuance of a law that favors them."

Appealing a denial is also a strategy used to prolong time in the U.S. "It pauses the deportation order and, for due process considerations, it cannot be executed until the appeal is exhausted," Álvarez explained.

Currently, asylum seekers find themselves in a limbo, since, although they cannot be deported immediately, they also cannot leave the country or access certain benefits, such as federal or state student loans.

For González, mass deportations could generate social problems. "Many people are integrated into the community, have businesses, pay taxes, have credit card debts, have rents. If you take them out all of a sudden, what happens to them and to the community? In the long run, they will be affected."