Alain Núñez also has a social security number and yet he has been at IAH Polk in Livingston for eight months
14ymedio, Havana, 2 January 2025 — Cuban national Alain Núñez has been detained for eight months at the IAH Polk adult detention center in Livingston, Texas. The migrant arrived in the U.S. in 2021 and, according to what he told Telemundo, has “a work permit and a social security number.” He also attended his credible fear interview and is awaiting a decision.
Núñez says authorities have not offered him an explanation for his detention. He said he voluntarily went to IAH Polk months ago for an immigration hearing and was arrested. “I don’t understand why I’m still being held,” he says from his cell at the detention center run by Community Education Centers (CEC), a company that has been accused of mismanaging its reintegration centers in New Jersey.
“My wife is pregnant and this situation has devastated her,” Núñez said, adding that his wife “has had to go to psychological therapy to cope” with the situation.
The interview with Núñez revealed the six-meter-wide by eight-meter-long space where IAH Polk holds groups of eight migrants. The video call shows four bunk beds that occupy almost the entire cell. During the conversation, the sound of the toilet being flushed can be heard in the background; they have had to cover it with a blanket to avoid being seen naked.
The facility was flagged in 2011 by the NGO Detention Watch Network for having “inappropriate and unsanitary cells where eight people are crammed together.” Some of the inmates complained about how “degrading it is to drink water from the drinking fountains located directly above the toilets.”
Furthermore, the same report notes that “the medical and nursing staff did not speak Spanish, and this, according to the detained men, has led to cases of medical negligence, misdiagnoses, and incorrect prescriptions for treatments.” Recommendations were issued but have not been followed.
Last July, Cuban Juan Manuel Fernández Ramos told the Spanish newspaper El País that IAH Polk was a “hell” for migrants. The 30-year-old had been imprisoned for six months. Authorities arrested and fined him for speeding after drinking beer.
Fernández left the island on a raft and settled in Tampa, where, before his arrest, he worked for three years as a delivery driver for Costco and had wedding plans. The Cuban claimed he fought his case in court, but the judge was emphatic in his ruling, telling him that his political asylum was not eligible. The only option was “voluntary” departure.
During his stay, he has endured days of unbearable heat. “It’s not normal heat. We’re trapped inside; there’s no air coming in,” the migrant says. On several occasions, they have had to remove their stiff red and orange uniforms and are left in their underwear.
Fernández says that deportation “is not voluntary,” and that the appalling conditions force detainees to sign. “I want to get out of here. No one can endure being here for so many months. This is the worst thing that has ever been done.” Last year, 1.9 million people opted for self-deportation, according to data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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