Pro-Trump Cuban Rapper May Soon Be Deported

A pro-Trump Cuban rapper is facing deportation after migrating the United States four years ago.

Cuban rapper El Funy, whose real name is Eliéxer Márquez Duany, was recently denied his residency application this month under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act.

Duany now has 30 days to leave the country.

In an Instagram post, Duany wrote, “I have 30 days to leave the country or I will be deported.”

He added, “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.”

El Funky, a Cuban rapper who has supported Donald Trump, is reportedly facing deportation:

“I have 30 days to leave the country or I will be deported.” pic.twitter.com/moYc7kPFBP

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 24, 2025

Per Complex:

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]”

Cuban rapper Eliéxer Márquez Duany — aka El Funky — has less than 30 days to leave the U.S. or face deportation and likely imprisonment.

But like a vast majority of Cubans living in the U.S., he fully supports Trump.https://t.co/3bkwlSMTOS

— POLITICO (@politico) May 23, 2025

Here’s what Politico reported:

In 2021, like many Cubans and Cuban Americans that summer, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was jamming to “Patria y Vida,” the Grammy-winning protest anthem that became a rallying cry for dissidents in Cuba. The hip-hop song, whose title translates to “Homeland and Life,” directly rebuked Fidel Castro’s revolutionary slogan, “Patria o Muerte” — “Homeland or Death.” That was a cause that resonated with Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, so much that in 2023, he introduced the “Patria y Vida Act,” “protecting against Tyrants” and expanding internet service in Cuba.

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Now, one of the song’s central voices, Cuban rapper Eliéxer Márquez Duany — better known as El Funky — faces removal from the United States. Earlier this month, U.S. immigration authorities denied Márquez Duany’s residency application under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. He has less than 30 days to leave the U.S. or face deportation and likely imprisonment in Cuba, since his music helped fuel the largest anti-government protests in Cuba in decades.

Despite Márquez Duany’s troubles, Rubio, now the secretary of State, has remained silent. So have other influential Cuban American figures and politicians who had embraced the #CubaLibre cause, such as Florida Reps. Carlos Giménez and Mario Díaz-Balart, who celebrated Márquez Duany and submitted the lyrics of “Patria y Vida” into the Congressional Record. (Rubio, Giménez and Díaz-Balart did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

If there is widespread awareness about Márquez Duany’s case, it hasn’t yet manifested in action. His plea for help has circulated on social media, but protests, petitions or high-profile interventions have yet to materialize. Even his “Patria y Vida” collaborators have stayed largely quiet.

The only elected official to offer help so far is Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.). “El Funky is a political refugee who deserves the full protection of U.S. immigration law,” she said in a statement after calls from POLITICO Magazine, the first time she’s spoken publicly about the situation. “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.”

Cuban Pro-Trump Rapper El Funky at Risk of Deportation: 'I Have 30 Days to Leave the Country'

Full details here: https://t.co/Gq6rXoa2fN pic.twitter.com/BdrtE4mGQU

— Complex (@Complex) May 24, 2025