U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that it deported 170 Cuban nationals on Feb. 9, marking the first ICE Air flight to Cuba in 2026.
The agency said those removed included individuals convicted of serious crimes such as murder, rape, kidnapping, aggravated assault, burglary, and drug trafficking.
In a social media post, ICE highlighted several cases, including Yondeivis Wong Den-Hernandez, who was convicted of second-degree murder in Florida and aiding and abetting improper entry of an illegal alien in Texas.
The agency also identified Raul Duquenzne-Batista, who it said had prior convictions in Kansas and admitted to serving 20 years in prison in Cuba for robbery, as well as Alexander Padron-Marten, who was arrested in a targeted operation in Philadelphia on controlled substance trafficking charges.
ICE described the flight as part of an increase in repatriation efforts under President Donald Trump, stating that while deportation flights to Cuba have occurred for years, the Cuban government had previously been reluctant to accept large numbers of deportees.
The agency said such flights are now taking place in record numbers.
The development follows decades of tension over deportations between Washington and Havana.
According to the Madrid-based newspaper Diario de Cuba, the Cuban regime historically refused to accept nationals convicted of serious crimes in the United States, often declining to issue the necessary travel documents.
As a result, some Cuban deportees were sent to third countries. In 2025, at least four Cuban nationals were deported to African countries after Cuba declined to receive them, the outlet reported.
The latest flight suggests increased cooperation from Havana or stronger diplomatic pressure from Washington as the Trump administration continues to emphasize the removal of noncitizens with criminal convictions as a central component of its immigration enforcement strategy.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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