Miami/The seventh deportation flight of Cuban migrants From the United States so far this year has been completed this Thursday. As confirmed by Home Office In its official X account, the plane returned to the island to 118 people –96 men and 22 women – who had left the country irregularly. With this operation, there are already 27 migratory returns to Cuba from different nations of the region in 2025, with a total of 833 repatriated citizens.
In the first six months of 2025, more than 600 Cubans were returned by air, according to figures from the Department of National Security (DHS) cited by independent means. On previous flights, such as June 28, up to 130 people were repatriated in a single journey. The Cuban authorities, meanwhile, barely report briefly, in brief notes of the Ministry of Interior or the General Customs of the Republic.
This Thursday’s operation is part of a wave of unprecedented deportations since the Trump administration resumed power. In June alone, the United States made 209 expulsion flights to different countries, a record since 2020, according to data from the Witness At the Border organization. These flights – coordinated by the customs immigration and control service (ICE) – have been mainly hired to the Global Crossing Airlines airline, specialized in transport of detainees in federal custody.
In June alone, the United States made 209 expulsion flights to different countries, a record since 2020
Deported Cubans are part of a list in constant growth of people who, after having entered the US through the southern border, face orders of accelerated expulsion or have simply not being able to regularize their status. In many cases, these are asylum seekers whose process was interrupted or denied by virtue of new executive provisions. The use of expeditious procedures, known as “Remainval Procedings”, has limited access to legal representation and shortened the deadlines to appeal the decisions, leaving hundreds of unprotected migrants.
One of the most criticized elements by human rights activists and organizations is the opacity of the process. ICE does not publish passenger lists, does not inform in advance on flights and barely responds to requests for information under the Law of Freedom of Information (FOIA). “We do not know if among the deportees there are people with credible fear of persecution, or if the basic protocols for safety and health have been respected,” Human Rights Watch recently denounced.
The situation is especially serious in the Cuban case. Being a country that does not guarantee political or civil liberties, many of the repatriated ones face reprisals, surveillance and, in some cases, immediate detention after its arrival. Since 2023, organizations such as Cubalex and Prisoners Defenders have documented dozens of returns cases that have been questioned, signed or even sent to seclusion centers under vague accusations such as “propagation of epidemics” or “disobedience.”
In parallel, the Cuban government has taught the discourse against irregular migration. The official narrative insists that many of the returnees are “common criminals” or “contraventors of public order”, although it rarely provides evidence. Meanwhile, the population observes with a mixture of fear and skepticism how compatriots come back who sell everything to flee and now they must rebuild their lives in a country where there is hardly any food, energy or minimum freedoms.
The US administration continues to justify flights on behalf of “border security and compliance with the law”
The psychological impact of deportations has also been underestimated. Several testimonies collected by independent means reveal the trauma of those who are separated from their families, returned to persecution contexts or stigmatized for having “failed” in the attempt to emigrate. Some do not even have a support network on the island, since they sold properties and cut links when leaving. The return not only means material loss, but also an emotional burden that, in an environment as hostile as the current Cuban, can translate into depression, unemployment or marginality.
Despite criticism, the US administration continues to justify flights on behalf of “border security and compliance with the law.” ICE defends that their operations prioritize those who have a criminal record or represent a threat to national security, although the data show that many of the deportees do not have a criminal history. For its part, the Cuban government accepts returns as part of bilateral commitments, but keeps silent about the monitoring of individual cases.
