Despu茅s de que Ra煤l se neg贸 a unirse al ej茅rcito cubano y alzarse en armas contra civiles, la polic铆a lo arrastr贸 del campo de f煤tbol y lo llev贸 a la c谩rcel, donde lo amenazaron y lo atacaron brutalmente. Con tan solo 19 a帽os, 茅l sinti贸 que no ten铆a otra opci贸n m谩s que dejar atr谩s la dictadura opresiva de su pa铆s de origen. Lleg贸 a los EEUU con la esperanza de ser tratado de manera m谩s justa.
En marzo de 2018, la polic铆a cubana se llev贸 a Adri谩n Toledo Flores a una celda de prisi贸n, lo golpe贸 violentamente, y lo tiraron contra un fregadero.
Mientras comenzaba a sangrar, uno de los oficiales dijo, 鈥淣o mereces estar en este pa铆s鈥�.
After fleeing persecution in Cuba, Yerandy Valdes Ruiz was swiftly locked up at Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center in May 2018. For over eight months, he was deprived of the medical attention he needed just to stay alive.
During a crisp, cool evening in Cuba, police barreled into Rodrigo鈥檚 home and brutally beat him with their batons 鈥� striking his stomach, shoulders and back. He fell to the floor and rolled over in pain. He listened as police warned him they could 鈥渕ake him disappear.鈥� Then, he watched them scurry off into the night.聽
As Jose Antonio Hernandez Viera said goodbye to his 6-year-old daughter in Cuba, he was distraught. She suffers from terminal brain cancer, and needs his emotional and financial care.聽
But Viera had no choice. The political persecution he was facing had reached its peak, and he would die if he were to remain in his home country, leaving his daughter fatherless.聽
Two Cuban police officers barged into Brayan Lazaro Rodriguez Rodriguez鈥檚 home, handcuffed him, and shoved him to the floor. They beat him in the face with their batons, and broke one of his teeth. They labeled him a 鈥渃riminal,鈥� and locked him up at a nearby prison.
After refusing to join the young Communists assembly, Pedro 鈥� a high school math teacher 鈥� was blacklisted from all teaching jobs and was branded as a 鈥渃ounterrevolutionary.鈥�
While Yasmany Jorge Borges Alfonso was detained in a Cuban prison, four police officers beat him until he was unconscious. They took turns hitting him in the head with their batons, each blow harder than the last. As Alfonso lay on the rock-hard prison floor, his forehead dripped with blood. The gashes from his assault were so deep, he needed four stiches. He also lost a tooth from the beating.
After Raul refused to join the Cuban military and to take up arms against civilians, police hauled him away from the soccer field and took him to jail, where they threatened him and brutally attacked him. At just 19, he felt he had no choice but to leave behind the oppressive dictatorship of his home country. He came to the U.S. hopeful that he would be treated more fairly.
