The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Ulises Prieto, a Cuban citizen with a final deportation order in effect since 2007 and two convictions for cocaine smuggling, the federal agency reported.
ICE indicated that Prieto will remain in immigration custody while the procedures for his expulsion from the United States are completed.
In announcing the arrest, the agency reiterated the stance of President Donald Trump's administration regarding immigrants with criminal records.
“United States maintains zero tolerance for illegal foreign criminals who bring dangerous drugs into our nation,” stated ICE in a statement.
The deportation order against Prieto remained unexecuted for nearly 19 years, a period during which Cuba systematically rejected the repatriation of numerous citizens with criminal records.
That scenario changed in February 2026, when the Cuban regime agreed to accept deportees with serious criminal records for the first time, including drug traffickers, murderers, and kidnappers, following negotiations with the Trump administration.
The first flight conducted under this new mechanism, on February 9, 2026, transported 170 Cubans, of whom about 50 had histories of serious crimes.
Since then, ICE has intensified the localization and detention of Cuban citizens with outstanding final orders of removal.
According to data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the detentions of Cuban migrants increased by 463% between October 2024 and January 2026.
The case of Prieto adds to those of other Cubans who have been arrested in recent months. In May 2026, ICE arrested Eduardo Pérez Legrá, who had accumulated four convictions for drug trafficking and a deportation order issued in 2012. In March, he was arrested in Detroit Aliosky Rosales Michelena, with a history of drug trafficking, homicide, and armed robbery, whose expulsion order dated back to 2010.
According to official figures, 42,084 Cuban citizens currently have pending final deportation orders in the United States, of which at least 29,000 have criminal records.
Since Donald Trump's return to the White House, the administration has strengthened operations to carry out those deportation orders, especially in cases involving immigrants convicted of serious crimes.
The arrest of Ulises Prieto reflects that strategy and the impact of the new repatriation mechanism with Havana, which has allowed for the resumption of deportations that had been stalled for years due to the Cuban regime's refusal to accept the return of citizens with a criminal background.
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