Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a Cuban business official’s sister one day after the State Department revoked her lawful permanent resident status.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and ICE Homeland Security Investigations announced the news on Thursday as the United States ramps up pressure on Cuba.
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Adys Lastres Morera was arrested in Miami after spending more than three years in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident. She entered the country in January 2023 under the Biden administration.
Morera is related to Ania Guillermina Lastres Morena, who leads a Cuban business conglomerate named the Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A. The group, owned and operated by the Cuban military, controls as much as 70% of the island country’s economy.
On Wednesday, Rubio personally revoked Morera’s status after determining she poses a potential threat to the U.S. and undermines the Trump administration’s foreign policy objectives in relation to Cuba. The secretary found she was removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“Morera was managing real estate assets and living in Florida, while also aiding Havana’s communist regime, until I terminated her permanent resident status,” Rubio posted on X.
“There will be nowhere on this Earth — much less in our country — where foreign nationals who threaten our national security can live lavishly,” he added.
In the three years since she’s been in the U.S., Morera did not file for naturalized citizenship or apply for a U.S. passport, according to government records. She remains in ICE custody pending removal.
“Allowing Lastres Morera to remain in the country would send a signal that Cuban regime-affiliated networks could continue to access the U.S.’s financial, educational and social institutions — but that is not the case,” HSI acting Executive Associate Director John Condon said in a statement. “HSI will continue to investigate those with ties to our nation’s adversaries and take appropriate actions to neutralize threats against our homeland.”
The federal government’s actions taken against Morera came as former Cuban dictator Raul Castro and five others were charged for conspiring to kill U.S. nationals and destroying U.S. civilian aircraft in February 1996. At the time, Cuban military aircraft shot down two unarmed planes operated by a Cuban exile group over international waters. Four Americans were killed in the attack.
Castro served as the president of Cuba between 2008 and 2018, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro. The 94-year-old Cuban politician is technically retired, but experts believe he still works behind the scenes in his nation’s government.
The question of whether President Donald Trump will authorize military force to free Cuba remains up in the air.
TRUMP DENIES AIRCRAFT CARRIER STRIKE GROUP DEPLOYMENT IS MEANT TO INTIMIDATE CUBA
Trump has said military intervention isn’t necessary, but the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group entered the Caribbean amid rising tensions between the two countries. He denied that the deployment was an intimidation tactic.
Speaking with reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump said he views U.S. action in Cuba as a “humanitarian” effort because the Cuban people have very few resources under the socialist, state-run economy. The president vowed to “help them.”
