Miguel, also known as “Mike,” was born and reared in the Cuban capital of Santiago. He has a brother and a sister, and he had a happy childhood with his parents and siblings. His father was a lumber mill owner, and his mother was a stay-at-home mom who ran her own business selling baby garments and fabrics. In 1962, at the age of 16, a Cuban native emigrated to the United States on his own. He first spent three weeks in a refugee camp in Florida called “Camp Matecumbe” after arriving in the United States.
He was later transported to Wilmington, Delaware, where he completed high school and received a scholarship to an Albuquerque college. Mike graduated from the University of Albuquerque with a bachelor’s degree. While in college, he met his wife Jacklyn and her son Jeff. At first, the Cuban native professes to be a Cuban, but he is also a patriotic American.
