Many other families living in the US were not so lucky and are experiencing the drama of separation.
14ymedio, Havana, 13 June 2025 — A week before the visa waiver for Cubans came into effect, Tania received a call that offered her an opportunity few had. Working in a clinic in Miami and residing in the US, the Cuban woman had long ago started the procedures for her daughter to reunite with her. With the ban about to begin, the US Embassy in Havana had to expedite as much of the backlog as possible, and her case was one of the first on the list.
Her daughter, she was told, had to come urgently to the Embassy with the proper papers. Tania had nothing prepared, but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. On the Friday before the travel restrictions came into effect, her daughter left with her passport stamped and shortly thereafter arrived in Miami, she tells 14ymedio.
The Cuban woman knows that she was very lucky to be among those who were able to solve her case in record time. Others have not been so fortunate. Travel and visa restrictions that the Trump administration implemented in early June for Cuba and other countries have ended the hopes of many families on the Island to reunite soon. Those who also left their children behind to secure a future in the U.S. and avoid the hardships of illegal migration have suddenly been deprived of a direct way to reunite their families, given the suspension of visas for relatives of residents.
Tania knows she was very lucky that her case could be solved in record time
This Thursday, El Nuevo Herald published the testimonies of several Cuban families whose reunification procedures have been cut short by Trump’s proclamation. It authorizes only US citizens to apply for family reunification and only with immediate relatives – spouses, parents and minor children – justifying the decision by the need to protect the country from “foreign terrorists.”
Lia Llanes is one of the Cubans who, having been resident in the US for some years, had already begun the process to meet with her 10-year-old daughter. The request had been approved by the US Embassy in Havana last May, and only the interview and visa were needed. Washington’s new move, however, turned both their lives upside down.
“It’s very heartbreaking to know that your claim is approved and this happens,” said Llanes, who runs her own café. Her daughter, who posted a video on social media urging the president to “think it over,” spent several days without talking to anyone after learning that she could not join her mother as soon as she expected.
The case is similar to that of Clara Riera, who arrived in the US in 2019 and owns a cleaning business in Tampa. Riera had been preparing for the arrival of her children, aged 16, 17 and 19, who were also waiting for the interview. The teenagers live in Cuba with their grandmother, who was diagnosed with cancer, which made reunification more urgent. To top it off, her eldest son has heart problems which, according to Riera, are due to the stress of the separation.
“I hope that the people up there will bear in mind that we, the permanent residents, also have our children in a prison country”
After the ban announced by the White House, and with her children’s beds already bought and accommodated to receive them, Riera posted a video on social networks. “I hope that the people up there who sign and make the laws will keep in mind that we, the permanent residents, also have our children in a prison country, and we want them here with us,” she said, devastated.
Cubans are not the only ones affected by visa suspensions and travel restrictions for nationals of countries that do not comply with US immigration security measures. Venezuela and Cuba have partial restrictions, while Haiti is included on a list of 12 countries with total entry restrictions.
Another Cuban interviewed, 26-year-old Glaydys Sardá, left with her husband in 2022, determined to get to the US through the southern border. Then, fearing the dangers of travel, she left her three-year-old baby in the care of her grandparents. Now six, the child is constantly asking to live with his parents, who are also expecting their second child. “When we are there, the three of us are very happy, but since we left, I feel terrible. Now I am also expecting my second son, and it would break my heart to go to Cuba with one son, return with one and leave the other there,” she confesses.
Travel restrictions and entry permits are not the only immigration policy of Trump that has affected Cubans. On Thursday, the US Department of Homeland Security notified hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti that temporary protections to live and work in the country granted by the previous government are no longer valid.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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