Donald Trump has already deported nearly 12,000 Cubans during his two presidential terms, according to a review of government data and records from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The calculation appears in a fact-check published by PolitiFact, after Florida Democratic State Representative Angie Nixon claimed that Trump had deported "more than 13,000 Cubans" during his first and second presidency.
The exact figure of 13,000 could not be confirmed, but the best available data shows that the total is close to that.
During Trump's first term, between 2017 and 2021, approximately 3,400 Cuban citizens were deported, according to data from the U.S. National Security Statistics Office cited by PolitiFact.
For the second term, there is still no consolidated report published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or ICE.
According to an estimate by Human Rights Watch cited by PolitiFact, around 8,500 Cubans had been deported during Trump's second term up until August 5, 2026. The organization based its calculation on ICE data obtained through a FOIA request from the Deportation Data Project at UCLA.
Summing both periods, the result is approximately 11,900 Cubans deported, a figure that PolitiFact rounds up to about 12,000 and that may have increased since August.
The data led the fact-checking organization to classify Nixon's claim about more than 13,000 deportations as "Mostly True," since the available figure is close but does not yet meet that threshold with the verifiable information published so far.
The intensity of deportations during the second term also stands out compared to the numbers from the first presidency: the approximately 8,500 cases recorded by August already represent more than double the roughly 3,400 documented during the four full years of Trump's first administration.
A significant number of Cubans have not been sent directly to Cuba. Human Rights Watch documented that between January 20, 2025, and March 9, 2026, the United States deported nearly 13,000 citizens of third countries to Mexico. About 4,353 were Cubans, making it the most numerous nationality within that group.
The use of third countries has expanded the expulsion of Cuban citizens who had remained in the United States for years with final deportation orders, due in part to the difficulties in getting Havana to accept certain returns.
In addition to Mexico, Cubans have been sent under this type of agreement to countries such as Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, and Eswatini.
The increase signifies a shift from the landscape observed just a few months ago. In April, immigration attorney Willy Allen explained that the available records at that time indicated a total of 5,286 Cubans deported during both Trump administrations, including 1,901 since January 2025.
Allen warned that not all Cubans faced the same level of risk. He identified among the most exposed groups those who had final deportation orders, criminal records, or had lost their asylum cases, and he distinguished that situation from that of many immigrants with ongoing processes.
The lawyer also pointed out at that time that more than 42,000 Cubans had final deportation orders in the United States, although having an order does not necessarily mean that the expulsion can be executed immediately.
Since then, the use of Mexico as a destination for Cuban citizens has also increased. A report by Human Rights Watch documented that some of those expelled had lived in the United States for decades and subsequently found themselves in Mexican territory without family ties or a clear immigration status.
One of those cases recently garnered attention again. Wayne DeMario, a businessman from Miami-Dade who voted for Trump in 2024, publicly lamented the deportation to Mexico of his Cuban partner, Yamile Alcantu, who had been living in the United States for nearly 25 years.
Alcantu had a deportation order related to a 2008 case and for years she attended her immigration check-ins. In June 2025, she was detained during an appointment with ICE and, after several months in custody, she was ultimately deported to Mexico.
"Had I voted Democrat, I wouldn't have lost my wife," DeMario told Reuters while questioning an immigration policy that, he said, had directly impacted his own family.
Immigration courts have also increased the number of orders against Cuban citizens. Between October 2025 and June 2026, more than 4,000 Cubans received deportation orders just in Florida, where Cuba ranked among the four nationalities with the highest number of expulsion decisions.
In June, more than 1,600 Cubans received deportation orders across the United States. However, these judicial decisions do not necessarily equate to executed deportations, as it is the responsibility of ICE to carry out the expulsions.
The Trump administration has also increased the arrests of Cubans with pending orders. In Florida, ICE has recently reported new detentions of Cuban citizens with final deportation orders, some of whom have criminal records.
Las deportaciones de cubanos bajo la administración Trump son parte de un panorama migratorio en constante cambio. Sigue todas las novedades en nuestra sección de
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