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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to intensify its operations against undocumented immigrants whom it labels as “the worst foreign criminals”, and during the Thanksgiving weekend, it arrested another group with serious criminal records, including two citizens of Cuba.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday a list of illegal immigrants with prior convictions for crimes such as rape, child sexual abuse, murder, drug trafficking, or assault, among others, who were arrested in recent days by ICE, which will process their deportation from the country.
Among them are two Cubans identified as Mario Ynfante Querol and Cuello García-Alliant (Aliant García Cuello, according to online police records).
The DHS statement indicates that Ynfante Querol has a criminal record for fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct against a victim between the ages of 13 and 15, in the city of Wyoming, in the state of Michigan. According to information available online, he is 44 years old, was convicted of that charge in April 2002 in Kent County, and is registered as a sex offender.
Meanwhile, García Cuello has convictions for aggression and possession of cocaine in Miami-Dade County, Florida. DHS did not clarify whether both have already served their respective criminal sentences for the offenses committed in the United States.
The cases of these Cubans, presented among "the worst of the worst," reinforce ICE's narrative that its priority is to remove from American communities immigrants with dangerous backgrounds, such as sexual offenses and extreme violence, who pose a "threat to public safety"; with the aim of deporting them, either to their countries of origin or to third nations, if their own do not accept them back.
A DHS spokesperson stated that "70% of all ICE arrests involve undocumented immigrant offenders, convicted or charged with a crime in the United States," a statement that contrasts with rising criticisms and denunciations from various sectors of society, human rights activists, and legal experts regarding the arbitrary detention and deportation of individuals with ongoing immigration processes and without criminal records.
In recent weeks, numerous arrests of Cuban citizens with criminal records have been reported, as part of the drastic immigration strategy of the Donald Trump administration. All remain in ICE custody pending deportation.
The U.S. is facing challenges in carrying out deportations of certain migrants to Cuba due to the reluctance of the Havana government to accept nationals who committed crimes and served sentences in U.S. prisons, and who left the country before the 2017 migration agreements.
On the other hand, other immigrants are indeed being welcomed on the island, through air operations carried out by ICE on a monthly basis since they resumed in April 2023, during Joe Biden's administration.
The Trump administration has continued these flights. In the eleventh month of 2025, under his leadership, 139 individuals were returned to Cuba, bringing the total number of Cubans returned by the U.S. this year to 1,370.
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