A Cuban citizen identified as Karel Pineda was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and publicly displayed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of the United States as part of its campaign "The Worst of the Worst."
The DHS released the official statement on Thursday under the title "Worst of the Worst: ICE Arrests Murderers, Pedophiles, and Kidnappers," in which Pineda is listed as the only Cuban among five detainees of various nationalities.
The information details that the man was convicted of first-degree sexual offense involving a minor and second-degree arson in Cumberland County, North Carolina.
The other four individuals mentioned in the statement are: Ung Bang from Vietnam, convicted of first-degree murder in Alhambra, California; Henry Duarte-Morataya from Guatemala, convicted of two counts of sexual assault and risk of harm to a minor in Stamford, Connecticut; Masroor Ahmed Butt from India, convicted of intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and possession of child pornography in Washington D.C.; and Sean Lopes from Guyana, convicted of kidnapping and possession of a weapon in New York.
The arrest of Karel Pineda is part of a series of migration operations affecting Cuban citizens in the United States. Follow all the details in our section on
The Secretary of National Security, Markwayne Mullin, signed the statement accompanying the announcement and justified the operations with a direct message: "Every day, ICE patriots work to identify the worst illegal criminals in our country. Just yesterday, ICE arrested murderers, pedophiles, kidnappers, and other violent criminals to make the United States safer."
Mullin also warned that there will be no sanctuary for undocumented immigrants with criminal records: "Under President Trump's leadership, there will be no safe place for illegal foreigners, including sanctuary cities that prioritize illegal immigrants over their own citizens. We will never apologize for arresting and deporting illegal foreigners, because that is how we protect the lives of Americans."
Pineda's case is not an isolated incident. Cubans have frequently appeared in DHS statements throughout 2025 and 2026, with crimes ranging from sexual assaults against minors to murder and drug trafficking.
At the end of December 2025, more than 1,152 Cubans were listed in the public DHS registry under this category.
This past Friday, the arrest of Manuel Victores-Alzola, another Cuban resident in Miami, was also reported. He was detained by ICE on Wednesday and has three convictions for sexual offenses against a minor within his own family.
The "Worst of the Worst" campaign is a systematic initiative by the Trump administration that issues statements almost daily to highlight the arrests of undocumented immigrants with serious criminal backgrounds.
The DHS also maintains a public website where citizens can view the profiles of detainees; at the end of July, the database was expanded with an additional 5,000 names, bringing the total to over 35,000 records.
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