Cuban Americans in Florida: Trump's Cuba Policy Divides the Community

A Fracture in the Cuban American Community

A growing number of Cuban Americans in Florida are speaking out against the Trump administration’s policies toward Cuba and the island they left behind. What began as enthusiastic support for anti-Castro rhetoric has become, for many families, a personal nightmare.

The most recent trigger was Trump’s declaration on Truth Social: “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA—ZERO!” The move, part of an unprecedented sanctions campaign, has drastically cut Cuba’s access to fuel.

”He’s Trying to Starve the People of Cuba”

In a widely shared video, Cuban American Liz Cannon described the situation with anguish:

“My religious family is in Cuba. There’s going to be no way to help them out very soon. There’s going to be no food. There’s going to be absolutely no gasoline.”

Cannon spoke of chronic blackouts, transportation shutdowns, and fuel shortages she attributes to U.S. pressure on Venezuela and Mexico, Cuba’s main oil suppliers.

Record Deportations Hit Miami

While sanctions choke the island, ICE raids in Miami have reached the Cuban community itself. According to The New York Times, over 1,600 Cubans were deported in 2025, double the previous year.

Social media videos show Cuban asylum seekers being detained, including the case of Laura de la Caridad González Sánchez, whose arrest mobilized activists.

“If we have not committed a crime, that we have our lives organized, our pending asylum, that please, we do not have to live in this terror,” said Sandra Vásquez of the Anti-Communist Movement I-220A.

The Irony That Hurts

For decades, Cuban migrants enjoyed unique protections under the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allowed them to obtain permanent residency after one year in the U.S. That history created a sense of security that is now crumbling.

Political commentator César Flores noted the irony: “To Their Shock,” read a recent headline about deportations. Flores observed that deportation has always been common for other immigrant groups, but many Cuban Americans assumed their situation was different.

Secretary of State Rubio: Between Two Worlds

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has long advocated a hardline stance against Havana. For many exiles who lost property or fled political repression, punishing the regime is deeply personal.

However, the policy consequences are landing in South Florida, where the same community that backed that stance now faces mass deportations and the suffering of their families on the island.

”Economic Warfare” or “Necessary Pressure”

Activist Medea Benjamin condemned the sanctions outright:

“This is economic warfare. It’s violence. It’s collective punishment.”

Benjamin argued that cutting off oil effectively cripples daily life for ordinary Cubans: without reliable electricity, hospitals fail, food doesn’t reach markets, and people’s dignity erodes.

Policy supporters, meanwhile, argue that pressure is necessary to force changes in a communist regime that has ruled since 1959.

What Comes Next?

The White House declared this week that it expects Cuba to make “dramatic changes very soon.” Trump acknowledged a “humanitarian threat” on the island, while Rubio maintains active negotiations with Havana.

For Cuban American families caught in the middle, the question remains unanswered: when will their community stop paying the price of geopolitics?