A Cuban citizen identified as William Torres-Gamboa was included this Wednesday in the "Worst of the Worst" list by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, after being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to the official statement from DHS.
Torres-Gamboa had prior convictions for soliciting the commission of first-degree murder and for possession of cocaine, two of the most serious backgrounds that have emerged in the program's statements related to Cuban citizens.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, signed the statement and described the operation in these words: “Every day, the brave men and women of ICE arrest and deport illegal aliens from American communities. Just yesterday, ICE arrested child abusers, murder-for-hire masterminds, violent offenders, and other dangerous illegal aliens.”
The charge of soliciting first-degree murder against Torres-Gamboa ranks among the most serious records in the program for Cuban citizens, comparable only to the case of Peguero-Cotarelo from January of this year.
Mullin concluded the statement with a declaration that summarizes the administration's position: "Under the Trump administration, DHS enforces the law, deports illegal aliens, and defends the homeland. It’s no surprise that crime rates have reached historic lows. We will always put the safety of the American people first."
The case of the Cuban was one of five highlighted in the statement this Wednesday, alongside nationals from Guatemala, Iraq, and Nicaragua, with offenses including first-degree child sexual abuse, aggravated assault, illegal possession of firearms, and burglary.
The program "Worst of the Worst" was launched in 2025 under the Trump administration as a public platform to highlight ICE arrests of immigrants with serious criminal records, allowing searches of cases by country of origin and state.
Since the beginning of 2026, several Cubans have appeared on this list with offenses ranging from first-degree murder to child sexual exploitation and drug trafficking, with Florida being the state where most of the arrests occur.
Among the previous cases are Evis Peguero-Cotarelo, convicted of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in Miami-Dade, and Reinier Fuentes Armentero, arrested in Florida for four charges related to child sexual exploitation material.
The most recent before Torres-Gamboa was Karel Pineda, included in August 2026, and just last week Raidel Gato was reported following a conviction for armed robbery in Miami.
El arresto de Torres-Gamboa por ICE es parte de una serie de operaciones migratorias que afectan a ciudadanos cubanos en EE.UU. Sigue todos los detalles en nuestra sección de
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