Back on October 2, news outlets reported that Cuba's Deputy Labor Minister, Juan Carlos Santana Novoa, had entered the U.S. through the southern border and was requesting asylum after representing his country at Mexican president Sheinbaum's inauguration ceremony. The senior official allegedly applied for asylum using the CBP One application and is currently awaiting an immigration appointment in Arizona.
Federal lawmakers from South Florida have now reacted to the Santana Novoa's entry, questioning an alleged pattern of Cuban officials entering the U.S. and suggesting that repeated instances suggest intentional actions, as reported by Univision.
"There are cases and cases and cases that indicate, yes, all of this is intentional," said Congressman Carlos Gimenez, U.S. representative for Florida's 28th congressional district. "I don't know the reasons, but it needs to be investigated. We need to send another letter to Secretary Mayorkas, asking why this person was allowed in."
Santana Novoa joins a list of Cuban officials who have entered the U.S. in recent months, including former secretary of the Communist Party of Cienfuegos, Manuel Menéndez, Judge Melody González, and pilot Luis Raúl González Pardo.
In fact, The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba compiled a database including over 1,000 people who, it says, were part of the government and engaged in surveillance, harassment, bullying and the imprisonment of dissidents and peaceful demonstrators, and now want to go to the U.S.
Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar also expressed her outrage with the Santana Novoa case in a statement:
"Instead of seeking refuge in Venezuela, Nicaragua, or North Korea, the defenders of Cuban communism knock on the door of the 'capitalist empire,' and unfortunately, the Biden-Harris administration lets them in."
According to reports from Martí Noticias, citing anonymous government sources, Santana Novoa was released and given a court date for August 21, 2026 while other Cuban migrants who were in his group were denied entry to the U.S. The outlet also reported that Santana Novoa plans to take residence in Florida if his case is accepted.
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