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A judge had found it likely the men would be persecuted if they returned to their homeland.
By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 27, 2002
TAMPA -- Three anti-Castro demonstrators acquitted of hijacking a plane from Cuba six years ago have won their appeal to stay in the United States.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service had appealed a judge's 1998 ruling that granted Adel Regalado Ulloa, Jose Roberto Bello Puente and Leonardo Reyes Ramirez asylum.
But in a nine-page decision released Tuesday, the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the judge's decision, saying the men were not statutorily barred from asylum.
"The respondents have established their eligibility for asylum," the decision stated. "Moreover, we find that the respondents have established that it is clearly probable that they will be persecuted upon their return to Cuba on account of their political opinion."
The men's attorney, Ralph Fernandez, said he was worried about the board's decision. He said the board usually sides with the INS, which could appeal the case further. Fernandez doubted that would happen.
"This is great news," Fernandez said. "It should end the case."
The three men fled Cuba in August 1996 in a small plane that took off from a suburb of Havana and was ditched in the Gulf of Mexico about 30 miles west of Fort Myers.
On their way out of Cuba, the men dropped several thousand leaflets condemning the February 1996 attack in which Cuban MiG jets shot down two unarmed planes from the Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue, killing four anti-Castro protesters.
At first, the refugees said they used a knife and gun to commandeer the plane. Later, they said they only made up that story to protect the plane's pilot, who they said wanted to return to Cuba.
In 1997, a federal jury acquitted the men of air piracy. The next year, U.S. Immigration Judge Richard K. McHugh concluded that the men had a well-founded fear of persecution if they were returned to Cuba. He based this on the men's statements explaining their desire to escape the Castro government and their spreading of antigovernment leaflets as they flew from Cuba.
Another factor was that Regalado had provided information to the FBI regarding the Cuban government's downing of the four anti-Castro aviators from Miami.
The men were released from jail in December 1998. They moved to various parts of the country to avoid retribution from Castro supporters, Fernandez said. The men have jobs and two have continued their education.
"They are productive members of our society," Fernandez said. "This is a good decision."
-- Graham Brink can be reached at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com