Cuban-American Immigration Attorney Willy Allen Marks 65 Years Since Arriving in the United States

August 8, 2026

Cuban-American immigration attorney Wilfredo "Willy" Allen is marking 65 years since he arrived in the United States as a 10-year-old boy, a milestone he recently discussed in an interview about his life and career in South Florida.

Allen was born in the Miramar neighborhood of Havana and left Cuba with his mother, brother and two cousins on August 17, 1961. The family settled in a small studio apartment in Miami Beach's South Beach, where Allen took his first job shining shoes at the Hotel Cardozo before later working as a newspaper delivery boy, a theater usher in Coral Gables and, for five years, in construction, using his earnings to help pay for college.

He went on to study at Florida State University before turning to immigration law, and in 1985 became one of the first Hispanic attorneys authorized to practice federal immigration cases in Texas. He has since built decades of legal practice in South Florida, where he is a recognized immigration attorney and a regular voice on Cuban and Cuban-American media discussing immigration issues affecting the community.

Reflecting on his path from a young arrival with little English to a longtime advocate for Hispanic immigrants, Allen has described his work as rooted in "the social responsibility to help my community, all those people who need it."