Why Trump’s Travel Ban on Cubans Makes No Sense

Daniel Montero

June 5, 2025

The issue: 

Trump proclaimed a travel ban Wednesday that fully prohibits the entry to the U.S. of nationals from 12 countries and partially restricts nationals of seven other countries, including Cuba.

Cuba is on the partially restricted list along with Burundi, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The fully restricted countries are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

What this means for Cuba: 

The ban prohibits the entry of Cuban nationals as immigrants and nonimmigrants on B-1, B‑2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas. These visa categories are used by people traveling to the U.S. for tourism, business, education, and cultural and research exchanges.

The proclamation also orders consular officers to limit the length of time that a nonimmigrant visa is valid for nationals of Cuba “to the extent permitted by law.”

This is bad news for Cubans, but it could have been worse. Leaked reports weeks ago indicated Cuba would be on a “red list” that included the countries facing a total prohibition of travel.

Why it matters: 

The travel ban is a blow to bilateral collaboration. During the Obama opening with Cuba, the two countries rapidly expanded cooperation in areas like science, the environment, sports and culture. Those mutually beneficial exchanges were gradually extinguished under both Trump and Biden (see our article on how sanctions under Biden hindered biotech collaboration). The partial travel ban is another nail in the coffin of Cuba-U.S. bilateral relations.

The move also further drives a wedge between Cuban families on both sides of the Straits of Florida.

There is no evidence the ban will serve its stated purpose of protecting the United States from “foreign terrorists and other public safety threats.” Nor is there evidence the ban will hinder migration to the United States.

Ironically, U.S. sanctions and other punitive measures on Cuba under both Trump and Biden have fueled migration. Over the past five years, Cuba has experienced its biggest emigration wave in history. More than 10% of the population has left the island, with most people going to the U.S. 

The (shaky) reasoning: 

The Trump administration provided the following reasons to justify the partial travel ban on Cuba:

  • Cuba is a sponsor of terrorism

  • Cuba does not fully cooperate with the U.S. on law enforcement

  • Cuba has historically refused to accept nationals deported from the U.S.

  • Non-immigrant Cubans frequently overstay their visas

There is no evidence to back most of these claims.

1.Does Cuba sponsor terrorism? The “consensus position” for decades in the U.S. intelligence community is that Cuba does not sponsor terrorism. When the outgoing Biden administration started to remove Cuba from the U.S. government’s State Sponsors of Terrorism list in January, a State Department spokesperson confirmed there was “no credible evidence” for the designation. The irony is Cuba has long been a victim of terrorist attacks carried out by Cuban Americans. One such group, Omega 7, was once considered by the FBI as the most dangerous terrorist organization in the United States. Some of these terrorists and their financial backers in the U.S. had ties to disgraced former Sen. Bob Menendez, a longtime ally of Joe Biden (see more in our documentary Hardliner on the Hudson). Another Menendez ally, fellow Cuban-American hardliner Marco Rubio, helped ensure Cuba would remain on the terror list after he was named secretary of state. The terror designation has had a devastating impact on Cuba’s economy, cutting the island off from international trade, credit and investment.

2. Does Cuba not fully cooperate in law enforcement efforts? Cuba has a long history of cooperating with the U.S. on law enforcement issues even when relations between the two countries have been tense. For example, the two countries have long worked together to stop drug trafficking (see our interview with a U.S. Coast Guard official about U.S.-Cuba cooperation on security matters). Biden took Cuba off the list of countries “not fully cooperating” on counterterrorism efforts – citing ongoing law enforcement cooperation, including on counterterrorism – only for Trump to put Cuba back on.

3. Does Cuba not accept deportees? Just last week, Cuba accepted a deportation flight of 130 people from the United States. It was the fifth deportation flight since the beginning of the year. Cuba has continued to receive deportation flights in line with its bilateral agreement with the U.S., even though the Trump administration has abandoned the migration talks with Cuban authorities that had occurred regularly under Biden. In an interview with Politico, Senior Cuban diplomat Johana Tablada said that Marco Rubio’s State Department “is not interested in having conversations with Cuba,” and that she and Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Fernández de Cossío were snubbed by U.S. officials when they visited Washington.

4. Overstay rates. Many Cubans do overstay their visas because they are incentivized to by U.S. law and policy. Cubans have historically enjoyed privileges no other immigrant has in the United States thanks to the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows Cubans who enter the U.S. legally to become U.S. residents a year and a day after their arrival. As a result, many Cubans who arrived in the U.S. through non-immigrant visas overstay because they know they have a legal path to residency as long as they remain in the U.S. for 366 days. Trump’s crackdown on non-immigrant travel during his first term further incentivized Cubans to overstay their visas since it became more difficult for them to come and go without first becoming U.S. residents.