Cubans in the U.S. Are Being Treated Like Other Immigrants

For years, Cubans who immigrated to the United States benefited from a privileged policy known as “wet foot, dry foot.” From 1995 to 2017, Cubans who reached U.S. shores without being intercepted at sea by U.S. immigration authorities were allowed to pursue legal permanent residency after one year. But according to a recent New York Times article, “Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers,” Trump deported over 1,600 Cubans to Cuba in 2025 — more than any other year — and more were deported by land to Mexico. The Trump administration has also frozen all Cuban immigration cases, scrapped family reunification programs and tightened visa approval processes that already took years. Watch our video: “Inside the U.S. Deportation Flights to Cuba.”​