The migrant showed up “as if nothing had happened” at a checkpoint in New Mexico, an agency official reported.
14ymedio, Havana, 5 May 2025 — Last Friday, Border Patrol detained a Cuban migrant who acted “as if nothing had happened” at a New Mexico checkpoint. The migrant, whose identity has been withheld, had been issued a permanent removal order under Section 8 USC 1253 of the Immigration and Nationality Act for failing to appear for immigration appointments, according to Chief Warrant Officer Michael Banks.
According to Banks, the Cuban man’s arrest “underscores the crucial role that checkpoints play in protecting our communities from violent criminals.”
The arrest of this Cuban migrant follows the arrests in Florida last March of eight other Cubans with criminal records for drug trafficking, fraud, sex crimes, and elder abuse.
“Undocumented immigrants will no longer hide in the shadows of the bureaucracy,” Jeffrey Dinise, head of the Miami sector of the Border Patrol, warned at the time, confirming that detainees rely on mitigating circumstances to avoid imminent deportation.
In the first 100 days of Republican Donald Trump’s second term as U.S. president, raids to locate and deport irregular migrants with criminal records have intensified.
During January through April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded the arrest of 66,463 migrants, 75% of whom had criminal records. Among those detained were 2,288 suspected members of gangs such as Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and Barrio 18. Additionally, 1,329 people were linked to sex crimes and 498 to homicides.
This week, Trump used the CBP Home app to promote self-deportations. He is now offering not only “travel assistance” but also $1,000 to all non-US citizens to voluntarily leave the country.
The Department of Homeland Security called the initiative a “historic opportunity” to offer foreigners “financial and travel assistance to facilitate their return to their home country through the CBP Home app.”
The U.S. government estimates that using the app “will reduce deportation costs by approximately 70%,” even with the payment of assistance. Currently, the average cost of arresting, detaining, and removing an illegal alien “is $17,121,” according to the administration.
Translated by Tomás A.
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