More than 4,300 Cubans were deported to Mexico and remain trapped in legal limbo

Human Rights Watch denounced that the Trump administration expelled thousands of people without due process guarantees. Many of the deportees, who had lived in the United States for decades, now lack stable access to housing, health care and documentation.

In a report published last week, the human rights organization documented that thousands of Cuban citizens deported from the United States to Mexico face legal uncertainty, a lack of access to basic services and difficulties regularizing their immigration status.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) maintains that, since Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency, Washington has stepped up deportations to Mexican territory of people who cannot be returned to their countries of origin. Among them are thousands of Cubans, many of them elderly and in poor health, who had lived in the United States for years or even decades.

The report, titled “Dejándonos a un lado para que muramos” (“Casting Us Aside to Die”), analyzes the situation of Cuban citizens and people of other nationalities transferred to Mexico between January 2025 and March 2026. According to the investigation, many deportees were left in a vulnerable situation due to a lack of access to housing, medical care, formal employment and stable mechanisms for regularizing their immigration status.

HRW interviewed 53 people deported to the Mexican cities of Tapachula and Villahermosa. Among them were 41 Cuban citizens, most of them men over 60 who had lived much of their lives in the United States after leaving Cuba for political or economic reasons.

Many of those interviewed said they had homes, businesses and family ties in the United States before being expelled. In addition, several suffer from chronic illnesses that require ongoing treatment, which was interrupted after deportation or has become difficult to continue. 

In this regard, the organization states that the people it consulted had no opportunity to challenge their transfer to Mexico in court or to raise objections about the destination country. According to HRW, this situation raises questions about respect for due process and the guarantees provided for in both U.S. law and international human rights standards.

The report indicates that the difficulties continue once they arrive in Mexico. Although the Mexican authorities agreed to receive these people, many deportees say they lack sufficient state support to meet their basic needs. In some cases, they end up living on the streets or depend on informal support networks to obtain food, medicine or temporary shelter.

One of the testimonies in the HRW report comes from a 58-year-old Cuban citizen who described the situation as “institutional abandonment.” As he told the organization, the impossibility of obtaining immigration documents also limits access to formal work and hinders any possibility of rebuilding a life plan.

At the same time, the investigation notes that the receiving cities, located mainly in southern Mexico, face structural problems linked to violence, poverty and a limited capacity to assist large numbers of migrants. As documented, the people who were deported face obstacles in accessing employment, health care and public services.

According to data compiled by Human Rights Watch, between January 2025 and March 2026 the United States deported more than 18,000 third-country nationals. Around 70% were sent to Mexico under agreements whose terms were not made public. The report indicates that Cuban citizens made up the largest group, with more than 4,300 people transferred during that period.

The human rights organization also describes poor conditions in U.S. immigration detention centers. The complaints include overcrowding, limited access to medical care, insufficient food, lack of information about immigration proceedings and incidents of mistreatment by custodial staff.

For HRW, most of the deported Cubans have no straightforward options for obtaining permanent residency in Mexico. Although it is possible to apply for asylum, many of these people have been away from Cuba for decades and could have difficulty demonstrating a current risk of persecution if they were to return.

That is why Human Rights Watch urged the United States to guarantee individual assessments before carrying out expulsions to third countries and to fully respect the rights of migrants. At the same time, it demanded that transfer agreements be transparent and include effective protection mechanisms.

The organization also called on the Mexican government to strengthen emergency assistance for deportees and to create channels that allow them to obtain a stable immigration status. For HRW, accepting people who cannot return to their countries of origin also entails the responsibility of providing minimum conditions of protection and access to basic rights.