U.S. immigration courts issued 1,642 deportation orders against Cubans last June, according to data from the system Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), Syracuse University, published on July 21.
The figure represents a 5% increase compared to the 1,560 orders recorded in March.
Florida recorded a total of 5,415 deportation orders that month, an 18% increase compared to March.
The data is set against an unprecedented national backdrop: in the sixth month of the year, immigration judges closed 100,773 cases, the highest monthly number ever recorded, of which 78,882 resulted in a deportation order.
Only 1,883 immigrants (1.9% of the cases closed that month) were granted permission to remain in the United States.
Although having a deportation order does not mean that the person has been expelled, it cannot be overlooked that these 78,882 new orders represent a 30% increase.
The comparison between nationalities reveals significant differences.
Haitians received 1,550 deportation orders, a 96% increase since March, while Venezuelans had 10,939, a 39% rise.
The 5% increase for Cubans, in that context, is relatively modest.
The government's strategy that triggered the rise in absentee deportation orders
One of the most alarming pieces of information from the report is that 68% of those who received deportation orders in June were not present at the hearing where the decision against them was made.
Behind that phenomenon is the strategy of the so-called "mega audiences," implemented by the Trump administration starting in late May.
These sessions bring together groups of 30 to over 100 immigrants before a single judge in one day, with notifications issued with very little advance notice, sometimes with only a day's warning.
According to an analysis by Joseph Gunther, creator of the data platform bklg.org, and Brandon Marrow, developer of a quantification method using FOIA requests, cited by Univision, there were 53,808 recorded orders of deportation in absentia in June, a 55% increase compared to the 34,725 in May.
"These large blocks of audiences were scheduled with an unusually short notice; apparently, the government implemented them to generate large-scale expulsion orders in absentia," declared Marrow.
Among the reasons many immigrants do not attend their hearings, the report highlights common errors in the Notices to Appear: incorrect addresses, documents lacking a date or time, or summonses that never reached their intended recipients.
What has happened in this fiscal year?
In the accumulated period from October 1, 2025 - when the fiscal year began - to June 2026, Florida courts issued 4,007 orders against Cubans, making Cuba the fourth nationality with the most orders in Florida, behind Guatemala, Venezuela, and Honduras.
In total, approximately 35,300 deportation orders were issued in the Sunshine State.
The figures reflect decisions made by immigration judges, but they do not necessarily mean that all those individuals have been deported.
The execution of expulsions is the responsibility of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while the judicial processes are managed by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which is part of the Department of Justice.
For Cubans, the figure of 4,007 orders confirms the direct impact that the tightening of immigration policies is having in Florida, the primary destination for the Cuban community in the United States.
Arrests are also increasing
This judicial scenario occurs alongside an escalation of physical arrests.
In June, ICE detained 39,563 immigrants and the Customs and Border Protection Office arrested an additional 3,575, bringing the combined total to 43,138, the highest monthly record under the second term of Dr. Trump.
So far in July, the average rate stands at 1,593 arrests per day, which would project nearly 50,000 detentions for the month.
Florida ranks fifth nationwide in the number of detained immigrants, with 3,934 individuals in custody.
Approximately a quarter remains in the state immigration detention center of Baker County, known as the Deportation Center.
Miami-Dade is the jurisdiction with the largest number of pending immigration cases in the United States, with 137,373 unresolved files.
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