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The White House published a police record on Tuesday of the Cuban citizen Héctor Hechavarría Rivaflecha, presenting him among the most dangerous foreign criminals in the United States, as part of its "Worst of the Worst" campaign against undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records.
The message on social media X emphasized that the Trump administration is targeting "the worst of the worst illegal immigrant criminals and cleaning up the streets of the United States."
In a series of tweets, the White House introduced several migrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the past week, who have been convicted or are charged with violent crimes, including Hechavarría, a 55-year-old resident of Florida with a lengthy criminal record.
His arrest was officially announced on May 14 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during National Police Week.
According to the federal agency statement, Hechavarría has convictions for premeditated murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and assault against individuals aged 65 or older, all offenses committed in Miami, Florida.
The DHS did not provide details regarding the events that led to the Cuban's conviction. According to reports from the Miami Police cited by NBC Miami, in February 2014, Hechavarría, who was then 43 years old, burst into the Presidente Supermarket in Little Havana on SW 8th Street, wielding a sword. There, he threatened to kill everyone present and struck a woman on the arm.
The supermarket security guard, identified as José Antonio Mendoza, 47 years old, confronted him and was struck on the head, after which he fired his weapon several times at the attacker, reported the then spokesperson for the Miami Police, Kenia Reyes. Both were taken to the Ryder Trauma Center: Hechavarría in critical condition and Mendoza in stable condition.
Hechavarría was initially charged with two counts of attempted premeditated murder with a deadly weapon. CiberCuba has not been able to confirm whether the events that occurred at the Presidente Supermarket 12 years ago are related to the crimes for which Hechavarría was convicted and that were listed by the DHS in its recent statement.
The federal agency reports daily arrests of undocumented immigrants with records of serious crimes, including murder, sexual abuse of minors, assault with a deadly weapon, drug trafficking, and robberies, among others.
As part of the "Worst of the Worst" campaign, the Trump administration has systematically publicized the arrests and deportations of the "most dangerous foreign criminals," whom it considers a threat to public and national safety. The White House had already highlighted the arrest of another Cuban during an immigration operation in February of this year.
The arrests of Cubans by ICE increased by 463% between October 2024 and January 2026. During the same period, there was a collapse of 99.8% in the approvals of permanent residency for nationals from the island, which dropped from over 10,000 per month to just 15 last January.
In line with the increase in arrests, deportations have also surged. From January 2025 to April 2026, the administration of President Donald Trump has returned 1,992 Cubans to Cuba.
However, the largest number of deportations is recorded towards third countries, due to the reluctance of the Havana regime to accept nationals with criminal records in the U.S. who have remained in that nation since before 2017.
Although no official statistics have been published, it has been revealed that at least 6,000 Cubans were deported to Mexico in the last year, a number that could be higher. Meanwhile, other Cuban citizens have been sent to countries in Africa and to Ecuador.
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