MIAMI — A former member of the Cuban intelligence agency was arrested on Wednesday by federal agents who said he fraudulently obtained a green card to live legally in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the man’s arrest but did not disclose his name.
Nestor Yglesias, a spokesman for Homeland Security Investigations in Miami, said agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI made the arrest in West Park, a city of about 15,000 people in Broward County.
HSI described the man’s arrest as “administrative” based on his falsely obtaining a green card — but the agency said it was not part of a parallel criminal investigation. That suggests he was detained solely for the purpose of deporting him to Cuba, which has diplomatic relations with the United States.
The arrest was made as the Trump administration escalates a crackdown on immigrants suspected of being illegally in the United States.
“HSI and its partners will continue their efforts to identify and arrest individuals who pose a threat to our national security,” Homeland Security Investigations said in a post on the social media site, X.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez said that the FBI in Miami had confirmed that “an agent of the Castro dictatorship had infiltrated our community by lying on his immigration application.”
He blamed the Biden administration for allowing the United States to be “overrun by these repressors.”
But it was not clear whether the ex-Cuban intelligence member arrested by federal agents on Wednesday had applied to become a lawful U.S. resident when Joe Biden was president.
By JAY WEAVER/Miami Herald
Jay Weaver writes about federal crime at the crossroads of South Florida and Latin America. Since joining the Miami Herald in 1999, he’s covered the federal courts nonstop, from Elian Gonzalez’s custody battle to Alex Rodriguez’s steroid abuse. He was part of the Herald teams that won the 2001 and 2022 Pulitzer Prizes for breaking news on Elian’s seizure by federal agents and the collapse of a Surfside condo building killing 98 people. He and three Herald colleagues were 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalists for explanatory reporting on gold smuggling between South America and Miami.
