Related videos:
More than 1,150 Cuban citizens are among those detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in its campaign called "Worst of the Worst," which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) presents as part of its offensive against immigrants with criminal records.
According to the public record of the DHS, filtering by Cuban nationality reveals 97 pages of cases, with 12 arrests per page, except for the last one which includes a single arrest, totaling 1,152 people.
Of them, 708 were arrested in Florida and 176 in Texas, two states with large Cuban origin communities and strong immigration operations.
The rest of the cases are distributed among Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Nevada.
Most of the detainees are men of working age, and the public records show a range of offenses including domestic violence, sexual assault, drug trafficking, armed robbery, as well as fraud, forgery, and illegal re-entry into the country following previous deportation.
The DHS, led by Secretary Kristi Noem, presented the list as a demonstration of the results of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, which prioritize the deportation of immigrants with criminal records.
"The work of the men and women of the ICE is fulfilling the presidential promise to remove the worst foreign criminals from the country," stated the official statement.
The post includes photographs, names, and partial information about those arrested, under the argument of public transparency, although human rights organizations have questioned the disclosure of personal data and the celebratory tone of the initiative, especially since it was presented during the holiday season.
The state of Florida holds over 60% of the Cubans detained by ICE, with a particular focus on Miami-Dade, Broward, and Collier, where joint units operate alongside state police.
In Texas, arrests are concentrated in Harris, Dallas, and Cameron counties, related to border crossings or illegal re-entry processes.
Although the operation falls within the federal policy of deporting criminals, immigrant advocates warned that most of the Cubans detained are facing minor or non-violent offenses, and that several of them may have pending asylum cases or open appeals.
"The label of 'the worst of the worst' is unfair and dehumanizing," stated an immigration lawyer in Miami.
"There are people with old convictions or minor immigration violations included in that list," he noted.
The U.S. government has reiterated that deportations to Cuba remain suspended, but it is holding Cubans with finalized expulsion orders in custody, awaiting bilateral agreements with Havana.
Filed under: