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Two Cuban citizens with convictions for violent crimes were arrested this week in Florida by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), authorities reported.
According to a statement published by the Department of Homeland Security, ICE arrested on Monday José Rivera Orta, an undocumented immigrant from Cuba convicted of lewd assault against a minor in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
On Tuesday, Rigoberto Iglesias Díaz was taken into custody by the federal agency, with a criminal record that includes a conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Miami.
The arrests announced at the beginning of the week are part of the sustained offensive by ICE under the strict immigration policy of the administration of President Donald Trump, which prioritizes the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants with a criminal history, deemed by authorities as a threat to public safety. Many of them are portrayed as "the worst of the worst" by DHS.
Regarding the recent arrests, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, stated that "ICE arrested truly depraved individuals, including murderers, pedophiles, sex predators, and violent criminals," and warned, "We will not allow illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds to roam freely in our communities and terrorize innocent Americans."
DHS has reiterated that "nearly 70% of ICE arrests involve undocumented immigrants who have been accused or convicted of a crime in the United States."
The two cases of Cubans arrested this week add to a series of detentions of citizens from the island with criminal records in Florida and other states, recorded in recent weeks.
During Easter, ICE arrested Reinier Fuentes Armentero, Yordan Carreras Céspedes, and Israel Serrano Aguilera in various counties in Florida. Their criminal records include possession of child exploitation material, vehicle theft, and aggravated harassment.
Last Thursday, Alexander García Peñate was arrested in Pennsylvania, who has a prior conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Florida leads in the number of Cuban detentions by ICE, with 708 cases recorded as of December 2025, concentrated in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Collier.
Since the beginning of Trump's second term in January 2025, 1,901 Cubans have been deported, bringing the total to 5,286 during both terms of the Republican president.
The Cuban government began accepting nationals with criminal records back since early 2026, which has expedited the pace of deportations. The first flight of the year to the island, on February 9, transported 170 Cubans; at least fifty of them had convictions for serious offenses such as homicide, sexual assault, kidnapping, and drug trafficking.
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