Cuba received a flight with 170 irregular migrants deported by the United States. This is the first such operation recorded this year from that country, reported the island's Ministry of the Interior (Minint) on Tuesday. The group, made up of 153 men and 17 women, arrived on Monday at Havana's international airport. The deportation flight was carried out 'in compliance with bilateral migration agreements,' as Minint announced on its social networks. Cuban authorities indicated that three of the returned irregular migrants 'were transferred to the investigative body for being alleged perpetrators of criminal acts before leaving the country.' They also stressed their commitment to regular, safe, and orderly migration, while reiterating the danger and life-threatening conditions represented by illegal departures from the country. In 2025, Cuba received 1,669 irregular migrants from the United States and other nations in the region, according to Minint. The governments of Cuba and the United States have a bilateral agreement for all migrants arriving by sea to U.S. territory to be deported back to the Caribbean nation. Meanwhile, deportation flights that had been suspended since 2020 were resumed at the end of April 2023, mainly for Cubans considered 'inadmissible' after being detained at the Mexico border. During the 2025 fiscal year (from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025), a total of 33,056 Cubans arrived in the United States, according to data from that country's Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The figure represents a drastic drop compared to the 2024 fiscal year when 217,615 Cubans arrived, due to the tightening of migration policies. Cuba has been facing a severe economic crisis for over six years, which has generated an unprecedented exodus.
