Wife pleads for release of Latin Grammy-winning Cuban musician detained by ICE at Miami International Airport

The wife of a Latin Grammy-winning Cuban musician detained at Miami International Airport is pleading for his release, saying she fears he could be deported and she may not know when she will see him again.

Degnis Nelson Bofill Miranda, 39, a Cuban percussionist and composer, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Aug. 19 after arriving on a flight from New York.

His wife, Mara Delgado, is now asking for help to bring her husband home.

“I’m concerned about him getting deported, because I don’t know when I will be able to see him again,” Delgado told CBS News Miami.

Delgado said everything changed the moment her husband was taken into custody. Bofill was transferred to the Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade County after spending several days at the Miramar ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office.

“He landed at Miami Airport. He was coming from New York and they were waiting for him there,” Delgado said.

“Awful. I started panicking, because with everything that’s been going on, I knew it’s always a possibility with us, immigrants,” she said.

The couple met in Cuba and married in 2023 — the same year Bofill came to the United States.

Delgado said her husband has a pending asylum case and wants to continue that process outside detention.

ICE confirmed Bofill’s arrest in a statement to CBS News Miami, saying he legally entered the United States in April 2023 but later violated the terms of his admission.

“Degnis Nelson Bofill Miranda, an illegal alien from Cuba, was arrested by ICE in Miami on Aug. 19 during an immigration enforcement operation,” an ICE spokesperson said.

“Bofill legally entered the United States on April 15, 2023, but failed to comply with the terms of his admission and is now in violation of immigration law. He will receive due process,” the statement continued. 

Delgado also wants people to know the musician behind the immigration case.

Bofill is a Cuban percussionist and composer, well known among musicians of his generation. He won a 2022 Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album for “Ancestros Sinfónico.”

According to Delgado, Bofill has also been part of the Latin Recording Academy’s voting body since January 2025.

She describes her husband as a pillar of Miami’s music community — now in federal immigration custody, separated from his family, his community, and his instruments.

Delgado has turned to the community for help, launching an online fundraiser to cover her husband’s legal expenses and a potential bond.

She set a goal of $60,000 and, as of Monday night, had already raised significant support from the South Florida community.

Her primary goal remains getting her husband released from detention while his immigration case moves forward.

“I don’t know when I will be able to see him again,” Delgado said.