Cuba agrees to accept U.S. deportation flights as border crossings rise

FILE PHOTO: Cuban migrants, who were expelled from the U.S. and sent back to Mexico under Title 42, walk near the at the Lerdo Stanton International border bridge, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo

Cuba has agreed for the first time since the pandemic to accept U.S. deportation flights carrying Cubans caught at the U.S.-Mexico border, three U.S. officials told Reuters, giving U.S. authorities a new but limited tool to deter record numbers of Cuban border crossers.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has about a dozen Cubans in custody who failed an initial screening for asylum at the border, the officials said, requesting anonymity to discuss the diplomatic situation. The U.S. agency is waiting until it has enough Cuban deportees to fill a plane before sending one to Havana, they said.