Cuban rapper and President Donald Trump supporter El Funky is facing deportation after migrating to the United States four years ago.
According to Politico, the artist (real name Eliéxer Márquez Duany) was denied residency application earlier this month under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. In 2017, under the Obama Administration, the act was amended to prohibit exemption for Cuban migrants who enter the country without a visa. Duany now has thirty days to leave the U.S. or be deported, where he may face imprisonment in Cuba.
Earlier this month, the rapper, who was featured on protest anthem “Patria y Vida” alongside Yotuel, Gente de Zona, Decemer Bueno, and Maykel Osorbo, called for help 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 fled from Cuba to reside in Miami and, although he was previously championed by Cuban politicians Marco Rubio and Mario Díaz-Balart, the two haven’t publicly spoken on the rapper’s behalf. But the possibility of deportation hasn’t changed El Funky’s stance on Trump, despite him not being able to legally vote.
Currently, the only Florida representative to advocate for El Funky is María Elvira Salazar, who called the rapper 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.”
