For Cuban Americans, Trump’s Harsh Immigration Policies Are Hitting Home
Cuban Americans have long occupied a unique place in U.S. immigration and politics. For decades, many who fled Cuba’s communist government received legal protections and pathways to residency that were unavailable to most other immigrants. That’s why when President Donald Trump launched a mass deportation initiative during the 2024 campaign season, many of them believed they’d be protected. But in 2026, a harsh reality has officially set in.
Last month, the president announced, “We have Cuba on our mind,” following federal murder charges brought against Raúl Castro, the brother of communist leader Fidel Castro. Many political insiders voiced deep concerns about Trump’s continued remarks, including Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ada Ferrer, who told Bloomberg that Cuban immigrants in the U.S. thought they’d be exempt from deportation practices.
The deep history between America and Cuba dates back to the original Castro dictatorship and the consequential Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, Ferrer explained.
“Cubans have always had an advantage in the U.S.,” she told Bloomberg, adding the Act, which passed under President Lyndon B. Johnson, “gave Cubans the welcome no immigrants had.” Since then, the Cuban population in the States has grown from 79,000 in 1960 to 2.5 million in 2026, according to Neilsberg.
As a result, many Cuban Americans came to see immigration through a different lens than other Latino communities. While supporting legal immigration pathways for Cubans, they often backed stricter enforcement against illegal immigration more broadly. Trump successfully tapped into those views during all three of his presidential campaigns, winning overwhelming support among Cuban American voters in Miami-Dade County and helping Republicans make major gains across South Florida.
We previously told you that many Latino Trump voters have since voiced deep regrets since his return to the White House. For Cubans specifically, they are now questioning whether the immigration policies they supported under President Trump are affecting their own community in ways they did not expect.
“In practice, the Cuban Adjustment Act is not being observed,” Ferrer continued. Since Trump’s return, the arrests of Cuban migrants have skyrocketed 463%. At the same time, approval of green cards for Cubans has dropped by almost 100%, according to the Cato Institute. Last June, the administration blocked new permanent and temporary visa holders from 19 countries, including Cuba. And residents, who expected legal pathways to remain available, are feeling the effects.
“Cubans are being detained. They show up for regular immigration check-ins and they’re being detained,” Ferrer said. “They show up for asylum hearings and judges dismiss their cases, which means they’re eligible for deportation.”
Families seeking entry to the United States have faced new obstacles, and some migrants are confronting a more restrictive environment. Immigration attorneys and community advocates report growing concern among Cuban families whose expectations were shaped by decades of exceptional treatment.
This is all on top of Trump’s continuous efforts to choke Cuba’s homeland resources. With the kidnapping and arrest of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, a close ally of Cuba, natural resources like gas and electricity have been usurped. Most recently, Trump imposed harsh sanctions against Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel in efforts to further pressure the country into submission.
For now, Cuban Americans remain one of the Republican Party’s strongest Hispanic voting blocs. Still, historian Ferrer said the drastic shift in the treatment of Cuban Americans, immigrants and even those still on Cuban soil could impact how voters see President Trump.
“It may change Cuban American attitudes towards Trump,” she warned. “It made him definitely less popular. People in Miami [that] I talk to see it. You hear it… The question is what will happen in Cuba.”
