Chula Vista man is getting deported to Cuba now that channels are open

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in San Diego took Emilio Sotomayor, 55, from his home early one morning to deport him to a country he hasn’t seen in 36 years.

By Kate Morrissey

June 16, 2017 6 AM PT

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in San Diego took Emilio Sotomayor, 55, from his home early one morning last week to deport him to a country he hasn’t seen in 37 years.

Sotomayor is from Havana, Cuba, and though he was ordered deported in 1996, he remained in the U.S. because the two countries did not have diplomatic relations. That changed under former President Barack Obama, whose administration negotiated restored contact with the island nation.

Before he left office, Obama’s administration announced in January that as part of the renewed ties, Cuba would begin accepting deportees returned by the U.S., and he ended the policy that uniquely allowed Cubans to get green cards if they made it to American soil.

Across the U.S. there are 36,204 Cubans who have deportation orders from an immigration judge, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Now that relations with Cuba have changed, ICE is beginning to look for them to carry out those orders.

Shortly before 7 a.m., ICE officers knocked on the door to Sotomayor’s apartment above a store in Chula Vista and told him to come with them. Those working at nearby businesses eyed the activity from within their shops.

The radios of the officers watching the perimeter crackled, “We have a tango,” meaning, “We have our target.”

Sotomayor came willingly and calmly, leaving his children and their mother inside. He didn’t know why he was being picked up — he attended his recurring check-ins with ICE that had been a part of his life since an immigration judge ordered him removed from the U.S.

“I always think that one day this is gonna come, but I never thought it was today,” Sotomayor said during an interview from ICE’s intake area at the Federal Building downtown. He thought that the U.S. still didn’t have a way to deport Cubans.

Sotomayor’s next check-in was scheduled for November, but because of a criminal history, immigration officers wanted to find him and deport him more quickly now that relations with Cuba have thawed, according to Clinton Johnston, assistant field office director for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations team.

Since Sotomayor came to the U.S. as part of the Mariel boatlift in 1980, he has been convicted of multiple felonies with convictions ranging from drug and firearm possession to battery and human smuggling.

“I was young. I was real young,” Sotomayor said when asked about his criminal past. “I made mistakes. Lots of times I’m innocent, but they say, ‘If you plead guilty, we’ll release you.’ I signed to get out and avoid trial. I was young.”

Most of Sotomayor’s convictions were in the late ’80s and early ’90s. His most recent conviction was in 2012, according to court records.

Officers processing Sotomayor to be taken to an immigration detention facility took his picture, ran his fingerprints and placed him in a holding cell where he could call his family. Then an officer brought Sotomayor out of the cell and told him that he would soon be deported to Cuba.

“Wow,” Sotomayor said, burying his head in his arms on the counter in front of him. “That’s crazy!”

He repeated, “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it.”

Sotomayor has two sons, 14 and 7. Both are U.S. citizens, as is their mother, Sotomayor’s longtime partner.

“I’m not angry because that’s my country,” Sotomayor said. “I’m from Cuba. But I’m kind of sad because I’m going to leave my kids. When I left Cuba, I left my mom, and now I’m going to leave my kids. That’s heavy. Wow, That’s heavy.”

He said he hoped to be able to bring his children and partner to Cuba after he gets settled.

President Donald Trump has indicated that he may roll back Obama’s policy on Cuban relations. He is expected to address some aspects of that relationship during a visit to Miami today. It is not clear how that might affect Sotomayor’s fate or that of others like him.

ICE confirmed on Wednesday that Sotomayor remains in custody and is in the process of being deported.

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