MIAMI — Donald Trump signed legislation providing $70 billion to the Department of Homeland Security for immigration enforcement, tripling Immigration and Customs Enforcement's budget for his second presidential term. ICE expelled nearly 8,000 Cuban nationals during the first 17 months of Trump's second term.

Most expelled Cubans were released on the Mexican side of the border. Miami recorded the highest number of deportations among United States metropolitan areas at the start of 2025.

May Díaz, a native of Camagüey, Cuba, participated in demonstrations in Cuba on July 11, 2021. She entered U.S. territory on October 13, 2021, and was released by Border Patrol agents. ICE agents visited Díaz's residence in Houston in March 2025, and she subsequently relocated to Miami. Díaz applied for political asylum, but U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rejected her application in October 2025. U.S. authorities rescinded her work permit in November 2025.

Díaz commented on the policy's impact. "Through his immigration policies, Donald Trump is trampling on what this country has always stood for, a place of refuge for the poor and the vulnerable." Díaz said. "There is no difference between a Cuban who is languishing in a prison cell on the island and a Cuban living here who has no possibility of finding a job," she added.

Susan Eckstein, a professor emerita at Boston University, also commented on the situation. "Donald Trump does not want more Cuban immigrants, but he does want regime change." Eckstein said. "He has been obsessed with being anti-immigrant, and Cubans are among the largest groups of foreign nationals who are coming into the United States," she said.

U.S. Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Carlos Giménez supported the DHS funding legislation. Salazar publicly called for DHS to protect Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans with pending immigration cases and no criminal records from deportation. She also urged DHS to resume citizenship processing and naturalization ceremonies for Cuban and Venezuelan applicants.