There ARE hundreds of migrants that pushed and supported Donald Trump being elected…..
One wonders WTF they were thinking?
That includes the Cuban – American community Entertainers including, Eliéxer Márquez Duany, that the US Sec. of State Rubio ‘used’ roll with… ….
Now, one of the song’s central voices, Cuban rapper Eliéxer Márquez Duany – better known as El Funky — faces removal from the United States. Earlier this month, U.S. immigration authorities denied Márquez Duany’s residency application under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. He has less than 30 days to leave the U.S. or face deportation and likely imprisonment in Cuba, since his music helped fuel the largest anti-government protests in Cuba in decades.
Despite Márquez Duany’s troubles, Rubio, now the secretary of State, has remained silent. So have other influential Cuban American figures and politicians who had embraced the #CubaLibre cause, such as Florida Reps. Carlos Giménez and Mario Díaz-Balart, who celebrated Márquez Duany and submitted the lyrics of “Patria y Vida” into the Congressional Record. (Rubio, Giménez and Díaz-Balart did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)
If there is widespread awareness about Márquez Duany’s case, it hasn’t yet manifested in action. His plea for help has circulated on social media, but protests, petitions or high-profile interventions have yet to materialize. Even his “Patria y Vida” collaborators have stayed largely quiet.
The only elected official to offer help so far is Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.). “El Funky is a political refugee who deserves the full protection of U.S. immigration law,” she said in a statement after calls from POLITICO Magazine, the first time she’s spoken publicly about the situation. “We are working with the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) to ensure they understand the serious risk of torture and political persecution he faces if returned to Cuba.”
On Thursday, Salazar’s office said they were making headway with the rapper’s case.
Márquez Duany’s plight is striking on several fronts. First, it’s an illustration of how much Rubio has changed while serving under the Trump administration — had the Cuban rapper received such a notice even a year ago, it’s hard to imagine Rubio not speaking up. Second, the rapper’s pending deportation is an example of how quickly President Donald Trump has shifted U.S-Cuban immigration policy. For decades, the U.S. rolled out the red carpet for Cubans arriving in the United States, thanks to a legacy of Cold War policies that positioned the U.S. as a haven for those fleeing Castro’s communist regime. Third and perhaps most striking is Márquez Duany’s attitude toward the president, whose policies pose a direct threat to his safety. Like the vast majority of Cubans living in the U.S., he fully supports Trump.
“If I could vote, I would have voted for Trump,” he says. “He’s the strongest president when it comes to Cuba.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.