USA27 May, 20262 min read
Human Rights Watch Says Trump Administration Deported Nearly 13,000 Cubans and Venezuelans to Mexico
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Nearly 13,000 third-country nationals deported to Mexico between Jan 20, 2025 and Mar 9, 2026. Deportees face cartel violence and lack papers, basic support, or work rights.
Deported to Mexico
Human Rights Watch said the Trump administration has deported nearly 13,000 Cubans, Venezuelans and other nationals to Mexico, where they are vulnerable to cartel violence in an unfamiliar country.
The Associated Press reported that the deportees under the Trump administration are older and have lived in the U.S. for longer than in the past, making it more difficult for them to find work and increasing the urgency of the need for medical care.
The report, AP said, is based on more than 50 interviews in the southern Mexican cities Tapachula and Villahermosa, where deportees described being left without adequate support.
Human Rights Watch researcher Alcira Hava, Leonard H. Sandler Fellow, described the situation in a quote carried by AP: "Imagine being 60 or 70 years old, uprooted from your life overnight and sent to a country you don't know".
Due process concerns
AP said that most of the Cubans deported had a green card but had lost it, and that more than half had a criminal record, but only 16% were for violent crimes. The Associated Press also reported that none of the people interviewed were taken before a judge to contest their deportation to Mexico, even when they expressed fear for their safety.
Human Rights Watch described the broader pattern in its own report, saying, "There’s no help; we can’t work because we don’t have papers." In the same Human Rights Watch report, a Cuban national identified as Harold A., 58, said, "How are we supposed to eat, to pay rent?"
Shelters, medical care
AP said that once in Mexico, deportees are sent to southern cities with few job opportunities, limited access to medical care and where cartels prey on them.
AP reported that a shelter in Villahermosa has received Cuban deportees as old as 83 in the past year, a departure from the young men and families it usually receives.
Shelter worker Josué Leal told AP, "The U.S. discards them. Cuba discards them," calling it a form of "double punishment."
Human Rights Watch, AP said, called on Mexico to ensure access to medical treatment and a pathway to legalize immigration status for those who can’t return to their home countries, and called on the U.S. to suspend these deportations, barring these guarantees.