Record number of deportations: 232 illegal immigrants arrive in Cuba on new flight from US

A total of 232 Cuban migrants were deported this Thursday from the U.S. to Havana, as part of the bilateral migration agreements in force between the two countries, official Cuban regime media reported.

According to a statement from the island's Ministry of the Interior, the operation included 189 men, 42 women and one minor, and constitutes the tenth aerial return carried out from U.S. territory so far in 2025.

Three of those returned by immigration authorities were transferred to investigative authorities, as they were suspected of committing crimes before leaving Cuba, the brief note detailed.

Returns from all over the region

Cuban authorities said that, to date, 38 repatriation operations have been carried out this year from different countries in the Americas, including: Mexico, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and the Dominican Republic, totaling 1,376 migrants returned to the country.

Through the message posted on Facebook, the ruling party reiterated its "commitment to regular, safe and orderly migration," and warned about the risks involved in illegal departures by sea or land, a phenomenon that has intensified since the worsening of the internal economic crisis and increase in political repression.

Resumption of deportation flights

Repatriation flights from the United States, suspended since 2020 because of the pandemic and deteriorating bilateral relations, were resumed in April 2023, mainly to return Cubans deemed "inadmissible" after being apprehended at the U.S. southern border or intercepted at sea.

For decades, Washington and Havana have maintained an immigration agreement by which Cubans intercepted at sea are returned to the island, while those who manage to enter by land must demonstrate legal cause to remain in the U.S.