The United States Border Patrol (USBP) announced the arrest in Florida and the deportation of two Cuban citizens deemed dangerous criminals due to their extensive criminal history, who were in the country unlawfully, one of whom had a final order of removal since 2018.
Both immigrants—identified only by their first names, Javier and José—were detained by agents at the Marathon station in the Florida Keys, reported the USBP sector in Miami on their social media.
Javier, classified as a "violent offender," has eight different convictions for aggravated burglary, five for assault, another five for resisting and obstructing police, as well as a record for selling cocaine near a church or a school, according to authorities.
“Agents from the Marathon Border Patrol have helped make the community a safer place by apprehending this Cuban citizen and violent offender, who received a final deportation order in 2018!” emphasized the statement.
Officers from the same USBP agency were responsible for the arrest of José, categorized as a "dangerous illegal foreign criminal," who was also expelled from the country.
According to the official communication, the Cuban citizen admitted to smuggling over 300 kg of cocaine from Bimini, Bahamas, to the Florida Keys.
His background includes convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, distribution of narcotics (marijuana and cocaine), possession of cocaine, and trafficking in opium and heroin. José spent 10 years in federal custody.
"Our agents remain committed to protecting our communities and the security of our borders," said immigration authorities.
The Border Patrol did not specify where both Cubans were deported.
During the second term of President Donald Trump, an unspecified number of immigrants from Cuba who were in the country illegally and had criminal records for offenses committed in the United States were deported to third countries, due to the reluctance of the Havana regime to accept island citizens with a criminal history who had been in the U.S. since before 2017.
However, this deportation policy took an unexpected turn last February, when the Cuban government accepted the return of about 50 individuals with criminal records. A statement from ICE then reported that in the first flight to Cuba in 2026, murderers, kidnappers, rapists, drug traffickers, and other criminals had been expelled.
The federal agency reminded that, “although deportation flights to Cuba have existed for a long time, the Cuban government has been reluctant to accept mass deportation flights from the United States.” However, it noted, “under the Trump administration, these repatriation flights are occurring at record numbers.”
On March 19, ICE carried out the third deportation flight of Cubans to the island in 2026, during which 117 individuals were returned (89 men and 28 women), according to figures released by the Ministry of the Interior (Minint) of Cuba.
With this air operation, 1,901 Cuban immigrants who were in an irregular situation in the U.S. have been returned to their country by the Trump administration since January 2025.
During the two terms of the Republican president, 5,286 citizens from the island have been expelled, a record number in U.S. history, according to the data compiled by the site Café Fuerte.
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