While campaigning for the U.S. Senate in South Florida, Democratic candidate Angie Nixon pointed to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, noting that Cuban nationals have increasingly become a focus of deportation efforts. This comes despite the strong backing Donald Trump received from Cuban-American voters in the 2024 presidential election.
“Donald Trump is the deporter in chief and we have witnessed him deporting over 13,000 Cubans since he has been in office, his first term and his second term,” Nixon stated during an Oct. 4 appearance on CBS News Miami’s “Facing South Florida” with host Jim DeFede.
Nixon, currently a state House member, is vying for the Senate seat currently held by Republican Sen. Ashley Moody. Moody was appointed to the position after Marco Rubio resigned to become secretary of state.
As Trump pursues his campaign pledge of mass deportations, his administration has actively worked to remove various immigrant populations, including individuals from Cuba, during his second term.
According to figures from the Office of Homeland Security Statistics, the federal government removed approximately 3,400 Cubans during Trump’s initial presidency. When asked for updated statistics regarding the second term, the Department of Homeland Security did not provide figures, and neither DHS nor Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) currently publishes this data publicly.
However, records obtained by Human Rights Watch indicate that Nixon’s estimate is not far off the mark. Brian Root, a senior adviser for the international human rights organization, stated that approximately 8,500 Cubans were deported during the second term as of Aug. 5, with the actual total likely higher due to subsequent removals.
The organization derived these numbers from ICE records released via a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the Deportation Data Project at the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy.
Requests for comment sent to Nixon’s campaign went unanswered.
Human Rights Watch figures on Cubans sent to Mexico
Data published by Human Rights Watch in May indicated that between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 9, 2026, U.S. authorities removed more than 18,000 individuals to third countries rather than their home nations. Nearly 13,000 of those individuals were sent to Mexico, a group that included roughly 4,400 Cuban nationals.
The findings highlight that many affected Cubans are elderly—often 60 and older—who have resided in the U.S., primarily in Florida, for decades. Some arrived fleeing economic hardship or the Cuban government during the 1980 Mariel boatlift or the 1990s.
These removals are facilitated in part by third-country deportation agreements established by the Trump administration with more than 35 nations.
In addition to Mexico, the U.S. has utilized deportation flights to send Cubans to countries such as Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, and Eswatini.
Factors driving the increase in Cuban deportations
Historically, Cuban migrants have not been the primary focus of American removal operations.
The shift began partly when the Trump administration terminated a prior humanitarian parole initiative introduced under the Biden administration. That program had allowed vetted Cubans and other nationals to enter the country with U.S.-based sponsors. The cancellation of the program revoked associated work authorizations, paving the way for targeted deportations.
Michael J. Bustamante, a history professor and the Emilio Bacardí Moreau Chair in Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, explained that the Cuban government has traditionally refused to take back individuals with criminal records in Cuba or the U.S. Consequently, this demographic remained in legal limbo until the current administration found alternative pathways to expel them to third countries.
“It wasn’t a protection on paper. In theory, they always had pending orders of deportation, but there was kind of an inertia there,” Bustamante noted. “We’re talking people who’ve been in the country for 30-plus years or 40-plus years who never thought that they would be sent anywhere. And this administration is finding ways to ship them out of the country.”
While Cuban removals are not entirely new, George Mason University immigration expert Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera emphasizes that the distinguishing factor is the speed and aggression of the Trump administration’s arrests. Authorities have increasingly detained individuals during routine immigration check-ins and while their cases remain pending, compounded by the end of parole programs and the expansion of third-country expulsions.
Evaluation of the claim
Nixon asserted that Trump has removed “over 13,000 Cubans since he has been in office, his first term and his second term.”
Official records confirm roughly 3,400 deportations during the first term. While DHS did not verify second-term figures, Human Rights Watch estimates place that number around 8,500. Combined, these sources point to a total approaching 12,000 by early August, with the possibility of a higher count today.
Because the statement is largely accurate but benefits from additional context and nuance, it is assessed as Mostly True.
Reporting contributions were made by PolitiFact Staff Writer Samantha Putterman.