Eduardo Machado was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1953. He is the son of Othon (an accountant who died in 2007) and Gilda (Hernandez) Machado. With his brother Jesus he emigrated to the United States without his parents at the age of eight in 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, which brought Cuban children to the United States in the early part of Fidel Castro's rule in Cuba. He lived with his aunt, uncle, and cousins in Hialeah, Florida until his parents were able to emigrate to California. While in California his parents had three more children, Jeanette, Gilda and Michelle. He is still a Cuban citizen, and has held a U.S. green card since he emigrated.