Cuba and Its Diaspora Feel Impacts of Trump Administration Policies
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Cuba and its diaspora are feeling the brunt of recent policy changes affecting the region. A recap:
The Trump Administration placed Cuba back on the State Sponsor of Terrorism List less than one week after President Joe Biden removed the country from the list.
The U.S. government added Orbit S.A., a Cuban financial entity responsible for processing remittances through Western Union, to its Restricted Entities List due to its ties with the Cuban military conglomerate GAESA. This effectively ends the processing of remittances to Cuba, unless Western Union can find another partner to process payments.
More recently, in February, the US expanded visa restrictions to target Cuban officials and their immediate families involved in labor export programs, particularly those sending healthcare workers overseas.
The Trump Administration has paused certain immigration applications, affecting migrants who entered the US under programs like the Cuba Haiti Nicaragua Venezuela (CHNV) Parole Program. This suspension has created uncertainty for all four nationalities, including hindering Cuban migrants’ ability to transition to permanent residency through the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA).
Additionally, a reported half a million Cubans are currently in the US who received an “I-220A” conditional release form upon crossing the US–Mexico border. The I-220A conditional parole has not been accepted as the necessary entry permit to apply for the CAA. If nothing changes, this would leave over half a million Cubans in the US in legal limbo and at risk for deportation. This has been an issue since September 2023, when the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals ratified that Cubans who entered the country with the I-220A could not use the CAA to obtain residency.
Representative María Elvira Salazar (FL-27) has announced she is working on a bill to allow Cubans with I-220A to adjust their status. However, critics argue that it is not necessary to introduce a bill but rather, Rep. Salazar should be focusing her efforts on coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security to recognize I-220A as a legal entry as she did with the previous Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. This could involve giving Cubans who received the I-220A form Parole in Place.
More news:
US Pauses Immigration Applications for Migrants Who Entered Under Programs Enacted by the Biden Administration
According to recent reporting, an internal memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) directs the US to pause immigration applications for individuals who entered under three different programs:
Uniting for Ukraine
The CHNV Parole Program
Family-based green card applications for some Colombians, Ecuadorians, Central Americans, Haitians and Cubans with American relatives in the US
The explanation for the pause is an investigation into fraud concerns that began during the Biden–Harris Administration. However, this investigation had not previously required a halt in applications. As a result, the pause will likely also affect individuals who have not committed fraud, leaving them in legal limbo. Those who entered the U.S. on a two-year parole risk losing their legal status once their parole expires unless applications resume, they successfully apply for other migration pathways, or they are granted asylum.
Notably, it is unclear if Cubans will still be able to adjust their immigration status during this pause. Some sources have indicated that Cubans who entered under these programs will not be able to adjust through CAA.
US Suspends Visas for Cuban Officials
On February 21, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. Consulate in Havana had denied visas to members of Cuba’s government and athletes who were set to travel to Puerto Rico for a game. Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío also confirmed that “dozens of passports” were returned without visas and that the US had suspended applications for several visa categories used by state officials and their agencies.
Days later, on February 25, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced an expansion of visa restrictions on Cuban officials involved with Cuba’s overseas medical missions, extending the ban to their immediate family members. Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla criticized the move on X, accusing Mr. Rubio of prioritizing his “personal agenda” over U.S. interests and calling it the seventh “unjustified aggressive measure” against Cuba in a month.
Migrants Held at Guantánamo Shipped to Honduras Before Landing in Venezuela
After a chaotic series of events, on February 21, 177 migrants housed at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base were moved to Honduras and eventually transferred to Venezuela. One migrant was flown back to the US, leaving the facility empty.
According to the U.S. government, all of the migrants are Venezuelans who were issued final orders of removal. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson added that 126 of the migrants had criminal records, and 51 had no criminal record at all.
Deportations are costly and complex, and all detainees were already in ICE custody within the US. Some view the operation as a political stunt meant to deter migrants through staged photos, videos, and statements—such as Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s statement on X “high-threat illegal criminals are being arrested & locked up like in GITMO.”
To recap, here are some key developments at Guantánamo:
Feb 4-17: 178 migrants are flown to Guantánamo Bay Naval Base from the US on 13 separate flights.
February 20: Two Global X passenger planes fly to Guantánamo where they pick up 177 migrants. They are then flown to Soto Cano, a U.S.–Honduras military airbase near the capital of Honduras. This deportation took place on the same day the US granted the detainees access to their attorneys via phone as stated in a court filing as part of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against ICE. After a brief layover, the 177 migrants are transported to Caracas, Venezuela on Venezuelan airline, Conviasa. Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, said that the repatriations were the result of a direct request from the Venezuelan government. The migrants' travels are summarized in the map below.
February 23: A plane carrying 17 “high-threat migrants” arrives in Guantánamo. The New York Times reports that the migrants are being housed in Camp 6 and are waiting to be deported to Honduras, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
February 25: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visits the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay with Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
Two Political Prisoners Reportedly Released in Cuba
On January 14, Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced that he had written to Pope Francis, pledging to release 553 political prisoners. This announcement coincided with the Biden–Harris Administration’s decision to remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism List, but the actions were supposedly not linked.
Amnesty International released a report on February 17 stating that as of mid-February, only 171 individuals detained for political reasons have been freed and criticized Cuba’s government for its lack of transparency and failure to release all of the political prisoners promised.
On February 27, Martí Noticias reported that at least two political prisoners were freed in Cuba. If confirmed, these would be the first releases since January 21, which was when the Trump Administration reversed Biden-era measures.
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