MIAMI — U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar asked the head of the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday evening to stop the deportations of Cubans in immigration custody whose information the federal government accidentally published online.
“The United States cannot continue to be a beacon of freedom if we put those fleeing persecution and violence at risk,’‘ Salazar, a Miami Republican, wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The correspondence follows a Nov. 28 incident in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement accidentally uploaded a spreadsheet to its web page that included the personal details of more than 6,000 migrants seeking protection in the United States. U.S. officials then told the Cuban government it would delay the deportations back to the island because of the leak — indirectly confirming to Havana that the potential Cuban deportees sought to flee persecution or torture.
In her letter, Salazar called the leak “life-threatening and unacceptable,” and urged Mayorkas to take “the necessary steps to protect these individuals and reassess their asylum petitions.” She also said there was no way to guarantee the safety of Cubans affected by the leak, which she said involved 46 migrants from the island, if they are deported.
“Anything that is said in a meeting with the Cuban regime can and will be used against the political opposition, which is in constant risk of detainment and torture. The safety and well-being of refugees fleeing from the regime must be the guiding principle of our Cuban migrant policy,” she wrote.
Some of the Cubans affected by the government’s leak and who are currently in custody at Broward Transitional Center, an immigrant detention center in Pompano Beach told the Miami Herald they had entered the U.S. earlier this fall, but failed their so-called credible fear interviews and that a judge had upheld that decision.
ICE sent the migrants a letter in early December apologizing for the accidental disclosure, which included personal information such as their names, birthdates, and credible and reasonable-fear screening outcomes. It also acknowledged the incident was a violation of federal regulations that forbid the federal government from sharing information from asylum or refugee applications with third parties.
While the letter from ICE said that their deportations would be paused for a month so the migrants could determine their next steps, including consulting with lawyers, Cuban detainees said they feared being deported to the island even more after the accidental leak. Salazar said that the “Cuban regime has now put a target on their back.”
Other members of Congress have also denounced the massive leak in recent days. In a Dec. 15 letter led by California U.S. Rep. Norma Torres to ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson, members of Congress said they were “deeply troubled” by the situation, and asked the agency several questions about the incident. Over a dozen lawmakers from Arizona, New York and Texas, among other states, also signed.
You can read Salazar’s letter here.
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