1 00:00:01,034 --> 00:00:02,569 - Maureen McCollum: In the summer of 1980, 2 00:00:02,636 --> 00:00:04,271 Ernesto Rodriguez stood on the shores 3 00:00:04,338 --> 00:00:05,939 of the Port of Mariel. 4 00:00:06,006 --> 00:00:07,541 He was about to board a fishing boat 5 00:00:07,608 --> 00:00:08,976 with 80 other people 6 00:00:09,042 --> 00:00:12,646 and leave the only home he'd ever known: Cuba. 7 00:00:12,713 --> 00:00:14,314 - Erne: And then, when they ask me, 8 00:00:14,381 --> 00:00:15,482 "You wanna leave Cuba?" 9 00:00:15,549 --> 00:00:19,786 I go, "Yeah, because I don't wanna be there." 10 00:00:19,853 --> 00:00:22,756 - Maureen: Erne is one of the 125,000 Cubans 11 00:00:22,823 --> 00:00:25,526 who left the island as part of the Mariel boatlift. 12 00:00:25,592 --> 00:00:28,595 Protests and discontent led to a rare moment, 13 00:00:28,662 --> 00:00:31,832 when President Fidel Castro opened the doors to Cuba 14 00:00:31,899 --> 00:00:35,035 and allowed his residents to leave for the United States. 15 00:00:35,102 --> 00:00:38,438 Almost 15,000 of these exiles, like Erne, 16 00:00:38,505 --> 00:00:40,440 ended up in Wisconsin. 17 00:00:40,507 --> 00:00:42,242 Erne shared his life story with me 18 00:00:42,309 --> 00:00:44,678 as part of the Wisconsin Public Radio podcast 19 00:00:44,745 --> 00:00:46,780 WPR Reports: Uprooted. 20 00:00:49,483 --> 00:00:51,985 Once Erne boarded the boat with his fellow exiles, 21 00:00:52,052 --> 00:00:54,154 they were bound for Florida. 22 00:00:54,221 --> 00:00:57,858 - Erne: The ocean, in the beginning, was calm. 23 00:00:57,925 --> 00:00:59,259 But when we was in the middle, 24 00:00:59,326 --> 00:01:02,996 the wind just start. [imitates wind blowing] 25 00:01:03,063 --> 00:01:08,035 And that's when a lot of boats sink, people drowned. 26 00:01:12,339 --> 00:01:15,609 When I got to Key West, as soon as I get out the boat, 27 00:01:15,676 --> 00:01:19,346 I kiss the ground and, "Thank you, God." 28 00:01:21,048 --> 00:01:22,749 - Maureen: Shortly after arriving, 29 00:01:22,816 --> 00:01:25,819 Erne was put on a plane with other Cuban exiles 30 00:01:25,886 --> 00:01:28,755 and sent to Sparta, Wisconsin. 31 00:01:28,822 --> 00:01:30,891 At Fort McCoy, Erne worked in the kitchen 32 00:01:30,958 --> 00:01:33,460 and showed American cooks how to make Cuban food. 33 00:01:33,527 --> 00:01:35,896 - Erne: They said, "What the heck's Cuban food?" 34 00:01:35,963 --> 00:01:39,833 And then, I show him how to make a congri 35 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:42,135 and chicken fricassee. 36 00:01:43,470 --> 00:01:47,107 One day, he said, "Do you guys like macaroni and cheese?" 37 00:01:47,174 --> 00:01:49,610 "What the hell is macaroni and cheese?" 38 00:01:49,676 --> 00:01:52,846 - Maureen: In this kitchen, Erne became friends with two cooks: 39 00:01:52,913 --> 00:01:54,481 the Brandstetter brothers. 40 00:01:54,548 --> 00:01:56,250 Their parents, Annette and Roger, 41 00:01:56,316 --> 00:01:58,352 would become Erne's sponsors. 42 00:01:58,418 --> 00:02:00,621 - Erne: She was the best, the best mom. 43 00:02:00,687 --> 00:02:02,289 I never had a mom. 44 00:02:02,356 --> 00:02:03,924 I thought of her as my mom. 45 00:02:03,991 --> 00:02:08,729 Every birthday, she's making me a upside-down pineapple cake. 46 00:02:08,795 --> 00:02:10,130 Every birthday. 47 00:02:10,197 --> 00:02:13,300 Sometime I say, "Mom, I don't want this no more!" 48 00:02:13,367 --> 00:02:17,371 And she told me, "Erne, happy birthday! 49 00:02:17,437 --> 00:02:19,706 Come and get your cake!" 50 00:02:19,773 --> 00:02:22,276 I had to love her, that family. 51 00:02:22,342 --> 00:02:27,681 Because nobody do that for a Black guy in another country. 52 00:02:29,983 --> 00:02:31,351 - Maureen: For the next few decades, 53 00:02:31,418 --> 00:02:33,353 Erne worked across the upper Midwest. 54 00:02:33,420 --> 00:02:35,756 He also started a family. 55 00:02:37,157 --> 00:02:39,026 Erne is now in his 60s. 56 00:02:39,092 --> 00:02:40,994 He's put roots down in Wisconsin. 57 00:02:41,061 --> 00:02:42,796 He has a tight community of friends, 58 00:02:42,863 --> 00:02:45,632 other Cubans who arrived during the Mariel boatlift. 59 00:02:45,699 --> 00:02:46,967 They play music together, 60 00:02:47,034 --> 00:02:49,069 they help each other through tough times, 61 00:02:49,136 --> 00:02:55,142 and they talk about their dreams of someday visiting Cuba again. 62 00:02:55,576 --> 00:03:00,113 - Erne: I have a lot of family that I never met before, 63 00:03:00,180 --> 00:03:02,516 like a niece and nephews. 64 00:03:03,383 --> 00:03:05,719 Great-niece, great-nephews. 65 00:03:05,786 --> 00:03:08,422 Any time I talk to them, it's, "When you gonna coming? 66 00:03:08,488 --> 00:03:09,890 When you gonna coming?" 67 00:03:09,957 --> 00:03:11,792 - Maureen: Like many Cubans who came to Wisconsin 68 00:03:11,859 --> 00:03:13,293 during the Mariel boatlift, 69 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,196 Erne has been in a legal limbo for decades. 70 00:03:16,263 --> 00:03:18,165 He has not been able to visit Cuba 71 00:03:18,232 --> 00:03:20,901 because he has not been able to become a citizen. 72 00:03:20,968 --> 00:03:24,104 That is, until the summer of 2023. 73 00:03:25,138 --> 00:03:27,007 - Erne: They said, "Yeah, make him a citizen." 74 00:03:27,074 --> 00:03:30,277 I'm happy, I'm just excited, you know? 75 00:03:30,344 --> 00:03:32,379 Waiting for 42 years. 76 00:03:32,446 --> 00:03:36,717 It's big, big step, becoming an American citizen. 77 00:03:36,783 --> 00:03:38,552 - Judge: Ernesto. [applause] 78 00:03:38,619 --> 00:03:39,987 - Maureen: As a U.S. citizen, 79 00:03:40,053 --> 00:03:42,723 Erne will be able to cast the first election ballot 80 00:03:42,789 --> 00:03:44,591 in his entire life. 81 00:03:45,025 --> 00:03:48,629 And he's a step closer to seeing his family in Cuba. 82 00:03:48,695 --> 00:03:50,797 - Erne: Well, the first thing I gonna do 83 00:03:50,864 --> 00:03:52,766 is go to my hometown. 84 00:03:53,233 --> 00:03:55,736 See if I recognize where I used to live, 85 00:03:55,802 --> 00:03:58,505 see if the house still there. 86 00:03:58,572 --> 00:04:02,242 And then I go to Havana, party in Havana. 87 00:04:04,878 --> 00:04:07,114 - Maureen: He'll finally return to the shores of Cuba, 88 00:04:07,181 --> 00:04:08,782 the country he left on that fishing boat 89 00:04:08,849 --> 00:04:10,584 more than 40 years ago. 90 00:04:10,651 --> 00:04:13,153 He'll visit with family he hasn't seen in decades, 91 00:04:13,220 --> 00:04:15,422 and maybe even have that party in Havana. 92 00:04:15,489 --> 00:04:18,959 And then, he'll return to his chosen home in Wisconsin. 93 00:04:19,026 --> 00:04:20,694 [gentle music]