We can’t imagine what the energy or conversations might have felt like on the ICE plane that deported 120 Cuban immigrants in one fell swoop. Many of the deportees had reportedly passed credible fear interviews, during which they showed proof of the violence and persecution they would face if they were sent back. This deportation is one of the largest deportation missions of Cuban immigrants in years. 

While Trump is the current president allowing for deportation, President Barack Obama is responsible for removing deportation protections from Cuban nationals, an agreement signed during his last days in office.

“South Florida should be up in arms,” immigration attorney, Randy McGrorty said.

One of his clients is a Cuban national who sought asylum in the U.S. through the Mexico border. McGrorty told The Miami Herald that his client was on that flight to Havana, but an eleventh-hour paperwork glitch allowed him to be removed from the plane. In a statement, ICE said that “ten special response team operators” were assigned to the flight given “the charter flight’s high number of removals” in order to “ensure adequate mission security onboard the flight.”

The majority of those on the flight didn’t have assigned attorneys.

The Miami Herald cites “ICE sources” who have said that the majority of those on the flight had passed credible fear interviews. Those interviews are simply the first entry point to being granted permission to apply for asylum, but it doesn’t mean they’re granted asylum. We can’t predict if they would have been deported had they been given attorneys. We don’t know whether the deported group were made up of recent migrants or long-time residents.

President Obama signed the “Joint Agreement” during his last week in office that requires Cuba to accept all deported Cuban nationals.

Word for word, the document says, “The United States of America shall return to the Republic of Cuba, and the Republic of Cuba shall receive back all Cuban nationals who … are found by the competent authorities of the United States to have tried to irregularly enter or remain in that country in violation of United States law.” Effectively, it ended the “wet foot, dry foot” policy that allowed Cubans to be granted protections the moment they were on U.S. land. Those Cubans had the opportunity to gain legal residency.

Before the “Joint Agreement,” Cuba had a history of rejecting deportees from America, forcing the U.S. to fly the deportees back.

The ICE statement continues to explain that, “the large removal charter is made all the more significant given Cuba’s longstanding status with respect to accepting the return of Cuban nationals ordered removed from the United States and abiding by key provisions of the U.S.-Cuba Joint Statement. Cuba has a long history of being deemed an uncooperative country.”

As the U.S. relations with Cuba have changed, Cuba continues to remain a communist Castro regime.

Fidel may have perished, but the regime remains strong. “Let’s see what happens to them upon arrival,” McGrorty told The Miami Herald. “Are they going to have access to employment, a place to live? Are they going to have benefits that the other Cubans have? Are they going to face persecution?” Cuba has historically rejected accepting its nationals back because of their public criticism against Castro, or even because they’re age might be a burden on the country’s healthcare. 

More than 37,000 Cubans in the U.S. have been given orders of removal.

Several attorneys confided in The Miami Herald on the basis of anonymity to raise awareness for a settled community in the U.S. facing persecution. Their clients have lived in South Florida for decades, remaining in compliance with their attendance orders from ICE, and, today, are sitting in detention centers awaiting a decision from Cuba on whether it will accept them back. Cuba can take as long as 90 days to make that decision, given that “The Joint Agreement” only applies to those Cuban nationals that immigrate after the January 12, 2017 accord. 

Cubans make up the largest number of asylum seekers right now.

Venezuelans and Nicaraguans take the second and third place in asylum-seeking. Compared to Trump’s first year in office, there have been 4.5x as many Cubans deported so far this year. It doesn’t matter how long Cuban nationals have been in the U.S. If they have a criminal record, they are likely going to be deported, and, now, suddenly, Cuba may actually accept them.

READ: More Cubans Are Being Detained And Deported One Year After ‘Wet Foot, Dry Foot’ Was Eliminated

Bella Thorne is living the life. The 21-year-old actress, author, and director was just in Venice, Italy vacationing with her 26-year-old boyfriend Benjamin Mascolo. The couple was there for the premiere of Todd Phillips’ “The Joker.” However, the real show was when Thorne made a splash on the red carpet, wearing a barely-there crystal and metallic stud mesh asymmetric gown designed by Lorenzo Serafini. That got us to thinking about Thorne’s personal style.

Her style and fashion choices have changed dramatically in the past decade, and some would even call her style radical but the truth is it’s not all her own doing. Imagine growing up in the spotlight during your formative, adolescent years during the mid-aughts. Fashion was nuts back then and Thorne went along for the ride. 

2007

Credit: YouTube

Thorne has been acting most of her life but in 2007 she got a role in the popular television series “The O.C.” as young Taylor Townsend. By then she had already been acting for four years, and you could tell she was a natural actress. Even though she was only seen in flashback moment in season four she definitely made an impression in Hollywood.

2010

Credit: YouTube

By 2010, the 12-year-old was coming into her own and was done being a little girl. Her look on the red carpet began to form and she was now a young lady who liked to wear makeup and have her hair in a cute and stylish way.

The young star, who had lost her father in a car accident around the time she starting out her career on “The O.C.” was going through so much at such a young age. But you could never tell that from her work or red carpet moments. 

2011

In 2011, Thorne was a full-fledged Disney star alongside co-star Zendaya. She had previously be seen as Bill and Barb’s younger daughter in season four of HBO’s Big Love, so she was in high demand. The young star seemed to be a lot more confident on the red carpet. This was also around the same time she began to take on the music industry. Naturally, when you’re on the Disney network, dancing and music is part of the acting gig and she and Zendaya released the single “Watch Me.” This would just be the start of her musical career. 

2012

As she continued her career in Hollywood both on the Disney network and by working on independent projects, it looked as if the sky was the limit. Her style was seen as that of a composed young lady who had it all, but that wasn’t the case. In 2019, she opened up her turbulent relationship with her mom.

“Dear mother,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m sorry for the words I have said. I needed to get them out from lingering underneath my skin. I know your life hasn’t been perfect and I know that that’s why mine hasn’t been either, everything in life is a mystery but what’s not, is this infinite undying love I have for you.” She added, “Our relationship is f–ked up. I’m glad we are here, and I’m grateful we have time to mend. I love you, mommy.”

2013

In 2013, Thorne’s career on Disney was done which meant she was finally free to pursue other types of projects and reach a whole new set of fans. This period included the release of her debut album, but coming from a Disney background she would inevitably get comparisons to Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus who were also Disney stars turned music personalities. This natural comparison could have been a turning point for Thorne and her style.

She said of her debut single back then, “My song is called ‘Call It Whatever,'” she said to Billboard. “You can call me whatever if you like me or not like me. I really don’t care.”

2015

Thorne had a very busy 2015 with back-to-back movies including “The Duff” and the TV reboot of “Scream.” The actress was also having so many more liberties with her fashion and hair. Now that she was no longer attached to the Disney network, Thorne lightened her hair and began wearing more revealing fashions.

Today

Thorne really broke out of her shell between 2016 and 2017 by changing her hair color to just about every different shade in the rainbow. She also began wearing all sorts of body and facial piercings. She was also experimenting with makeup. In 2016, Thorne shared that she used the process of micro-blading for the very first time. Seems like nothing these days, but back then micro-blading was fairly new. In many ways, you can say Thorne’s experimental ways with fashion and makeup is ahead of its time.

READ: Bella Thorne Is Making Her Directorial Debut With Porn Film On PornHub