More than 1,600 Cubans repatriated in 2025 as Florida communities feel impact

Federal immigration actions have produced record deportations of Cubans, with the Cuban government saying President Trump repatriated more than 1,600 Cubans in 2025, and Florida communities long shaped by Cuban exiles are experiencing the effects. The New York Times reports individual cases that have drawn attention, including Heidy Sánchez, who was detained during a routine Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in in Tampa while with her 17-month-old daughter and was deported two days later; Ms.

Sánchez, who worked as a home health aide, remains in Havana and has a pending visa interview that will determine whether she can apply for a waiver to return. The Cuban government said the 2025 total is about double the number repatriated in 2024, and the administration has sent more Cubans back than its three predecessors.

Some Cubans have been deported by land into Mexico, including people who had lived in the United States for decades and were removed because of old criminal convictions. Detentions have included weeks or months in a Florida Everglades facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz," and detainees at another site protested last June by writing "SOS Cuba" on their shirts and forming "SOS" with their bodies in the recreation yard.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, Cuban Government, Florida, Cuban Adjustment Act, Alligator Alcatraz