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A total of 116 irregular Cuban migrants were deported from the United States on Thursday and arrived at José Martí International Airport in Havana.
The Ministry of the Interior reported on that the operation was carried out in compliance with bilateral migration agreements and specified that the group consists of 88 men and 28 women.
With this new deportation, the number of individuals sent to Cuba from U.S. territory has reached 302 in the first two months of 2026, according to official figures.
Cuban authorities reiterated their stance in favor of “regular, safe, and orderly” migration and once again warned about the risks associated with illegal departures from the country.
The first deportation flight of 2026 took place on February 9, when 170 Cuban migrants were sent from the United States to the island, as reported by the Ministry of the Interior through its official channels.
This flight, which occurred just 10 days ago, was notable as it marked the first time that —according to information from the U.S. government— it included individuals with convictions for serious crimes such as murder, rape, kidnapping, and drug trafficking.
So far in 2026, two deportation flights from the United States to Cuba have been confirmed: on February 9, with 170 migrants, and on February 19, with 116, totaling 286 people deported this year according to the detailed data.
However, the authorities have reported that the total figure for the first two months has risen to 302, indicating that there are 16 additional cases not publicly detailed in the available reports.
Questions in the migration balance
The brief and ambiguous note from the Ministry of the Interior does not explicitly state that the 302 migrants returned in the first two months of 2026 were deported solely from the United States, leaving open the possibility that part of that number may correspond to returns from other countries or interceptions at sea.
Between the first deportation flight of the year, which took place on February 9 with 170 migrants, and the second on February 19 with 116, at least one migratory incident occurred in waters near Cuba that could affect the overall count.
On February 15, 2026, the cruise ship Radiance of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean, rescued six people adrift in a small vessel in the western Caribbean.
According to the specialized outlet Royal Caribbean Blog, the ship was forced to stop its course after detecting the boat in distress off the Cuban coast.
Cruise passengers reported on social media that the vessel remained docked while the rescue was coordinated. User Mike Hoglander wrote in a Facebook group that they were "completely stopped waiting for the rescue of six people."
Another passenger explained on Reddit that the captain decided to stop in compliance with international laws that require assistance to people in distress at sea.
According to those testimonies, the Coast Guard was unable to respond, and it was ultimately the cruise ship's own crew that carried out the operation.
Royal Caribbean Blog detailed that the boat was already taking on water and confirmed that the six individuals were successfully brought aboard the ship.
The case did not only remain as reports from passengers. The outlet Cayman News Service (CNS) later confirmed that the six rescued individuals were adult Cuban men who were disembarked in the Cayman Islands, where they were placed under the custody of Cayman Islands Customs and Border Control to be processed in accordance with the territory's immigration laws and international obligations.
CNS also reported that nine Cubans were repatriated to Havana on Friday, February 13, raising the total number of migrants returned from that territory to 13 so far in 2026, while another 23 remained in custody.
These migratory movements in third countries, which took place precisely between the first and second deportation flights from the United States, reinforce doubts about the breakdown of the 302 cases reported by MININT.
2025 Migration Closure in Numbers
In December 2025, on the 18th, 128 migrants were deported (106 men, 21 women, and one minor).
Previously, on November 20, a flight with 139 deportees was recorded, and on November 6 another flight with 232, which was the largest operation since the resumption of flights by ICE in 2023.
Those three flights alone account for 499 deportations.
After the flight on December 18, the official total under the current U.S. administration rose to 4,883 Cuban migrants deported across 12 flights coordinated with Havana.
Additionally, the December statement indicated that the return of another six migrants intercepted at sea was planned, which would raise the annual total for 2025 to 1,669; however, at that time, it was not officially confirmed whether that return took place, leaving those six cases pending public verification.
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