Daniela Fuentes: Transgender Cuban woman deported by US to Central African Republic is in hiding

Who is Daniela Fuentes?

Daniela Fuentes is a 32-year-old transgender woman from Cuba who, until recently, lived openly in Miami. In Florida, she styled hair for a living and performed as a drag artist at the Azúcar nightclub.

She grew up on the outskirts of Havana, where she began living as a woman during her adolescence. After experiencing physical violence and harassment because of her gender identity, she fled Cuba in 2023. Travelling through Central America disguised as a man for her own safety, she eventually entered the US via the CBP One humanitarian programme and settled in Miami.

Her life in the US came to an abrupt end when she was detained by immigration officers after missing a court hearing in Texas. Under a January 2025 executive order that excludes transgender women from female detention facilities, Fuentes was held in male detention centres in Florida and Texas. Her wig was confiscated, and she was forced to wear a male uniform.

On 29 August, she was boarded onto a deportation flight. Armed officers only revealed her destination to her five hours into the journey.

Why was she deported to the Central African Republic?

Fuentes was deported to the Central African Republic under a US policy that allows the government to send asylum seekers and migrants to "third countries" rather than their country of origin.

She has no family, social ties, or language skills to help her navigate life in the Central African Republic, which is one of the poorest and most volatile nations in the world. Since arriving in Bangui, the capital, she has been placed in a government-run apartment block alongside male deportees.

To survive, she has had to conceal her identity. She wears men’s clothing, alters her voice, and only wears her wig in private.

"Everything is difficult here because I have to hide who I am," Fuentes said. "I don't know this place, the people or the language, and I have no idea what will happen to me."

How does the third-country deportation policy work?

The US has used secret or quietly negotiated agreements to deport around 25,000 people to third countries, according to data from Third Country Deportation Watch. While the vast majority of these deportees are sent to Mexico, more than a dozen African nations have also signed agreements to accept them.

Between January 2025 and August 2026, the US sent more than 500 people to African countries, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. This group included at least 12 LGBT individuals sent to nations where same-sex relationships are criminalised or where they face extreme social hostility.

Advocates argue that these deportations violate basic human rights obligations. "These are not bureaucratic errors or isolated incidents," said Bridget Crawford of the advocacy group Immigration Equality. "They are the predictable result of policies that purposefully abandon our legal and moral obligation to protect LGBTQ+ immigrants fleeing persecution."

The US government has defended the policy as lawful, claiming that the receiving nations provide formal assurances that deportees will not face persecution or torture.

What is next for Daniela Fuentes?

Fuentes and her fellow deportees are currently receiving basic food and aid from the International Organisation for Migration. However, their future remains highly uncertain.

Because US authorities confiscated her identity documents, Fuentes cannot work or legally move around Bangui without risking arrest by local police. She spends most of her days confined to the apartment compound.

While Cuban authorities have issued travel documents authorising her return to Cuba, Fuentes hopes to find a way to claim asylum in another country, such as Canada, because the economic hardship and harassment that forced her to leave Cuba remain unchanged.