'El Funky will not be deported': Cuban rapper says his immigration case was reopened

Sonia Osorio, Miami Herald on May 28, 2025

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MIAMI — Cuban rapper Eliexer Márquez Duany, known as El Funky, one of the musicians who performed on Cuban protest anthem “Patria y Vida,” announced that his immigration case has been reopened after U.S. authorities denied his application for permanent residency.

El Funky made the announcement on Saturday after media reported that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied his petition under the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 and gave him 30 days to leave the country or face deportation.

“To all my brothers and followers, I want to give you good news. Thanks to my legal team, my residency case has been opened. I have great faith in this government and the legal process. Also, regarding the rumors and fake news circulating on social media, we clarify that El Funky will not be deported,” the Cuban musician said on his Instagram account.

His lawyer Miguel Inda-Romero commented, “As I said from day one, our time was coming and @elfunkycuba wasn’t going anywhere! Keep talking without knowing, cases are won legally, not by talking on social media! Thank you all for your support!”

On Friday, Politico reported that Cuban rapper faced deportation from the United States and would likely be imprisoned in Cuba, given that his music helped fuel Cuba’s largest anti-government protests in decades.

The outlet reported that after his residency application was denied “without any explanation,” the artist hired a new immigration lawyer and “is now rushing to file an asylum application. His new lawyer told him there were ‘errors in the original application,’ but couldn’t specify which ones.”

Immigration authorities reportedly informed him that the request was denied because the criminal record he provided from the Cuban Ministry of Justice shows a 2017 conviction of “one year and three months in prison” for the alleged “possession and trafficking of illegal drugs and other similar substances” on the Caribbean island, according to the USCIS document obtained by Cuban news website El Estornudo.

El Funky denied that accusation on May 16, saying that the Cuban regime “fabricates crimes” against its opponents.

El Funky along with Yotuel, Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona (Randy Malcom and Alexander Delgado), received Latin Grammy awards in November 2021 for Song of the Year and Best Urban Song for “Patria y Vida,” which became an anthem for Cubans who took to the streets in July of that year to protest against the communist regime.

“The most important thing is that this puts my life at risk,” the rapper told the Spanish newspaper El País. “My life is in danger. They could fabricate a crime against me, and if I’m going through this situation, it’s because of a crime also created by the dictatorship. I think the United States authorities need to study my case and realize the great harm they want to do to me.”