Cuban rapper and President Donald Trump supporter El Funky is facing deportation after moving to the United States four years ago.
Based on reports from Politico, the artist (real name Eliéxer Márquez Duany) had his residency application rejected earlier this month under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. In 2017, during the Obama Administration, the act was modified to remove exemptions for Cuban migrants who arrive in the country without a visa. Duany now has thirty days to exit the U.S. or face deportation, where he could encounter imprisonment in Cuba.
Earlier this month, the rapper, who appeared on protest anthem “Patria y Vida” alongside Yotuel, Gente de Zona, Decemer Bueno, and Maykel Osorbo, requested assistance in an Instagram post.
“I have 30 days to leave the country or I will be deported,” reads the caption, translated from Spanish to English. “I ask all my Cuban brothers and sisters who know of my anti-communist history and the members of Congress of this country, who need your support more than ever. [Cuba flag]”
El Funky escaped from Cuba to settle in Miami and, although he was previously supported by Cuban politicians Marco Rubio and Mario Díaz-Balart, the two haven’t publicly advocated for the rapper. But the threat of deportation hasn’t altered El Funky’s support for Trump, despite being unable to legally vote.
Currently, the only Florida representative backing El Funky is María Elvira Salazar, who described the rapper as a “political refugee who deserves the full protection of U.S. immigration law.”
“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,” she told Politico.
“I’m not going to shut up,” he said (via Baller Alert). “Going back puts my life in danger.”
