Cuban Woman Deported to Mexico After Facing Arson Charges in Florida

A 26-year-old Cuban woman, who arrived in the United States at the age of 11 and held permanent residency, was deported to Mexico following her time in immigration custody, as reported by journalist Javier Díaz.

The young woman, identified by her initials D. U. H., is a mother of two and spent nearly all of her teenage and adult years in the United States. Prior to her deportation, she faced multiple legal battles in Florida, including a 2023 arrest on charges of attempted murder and arson.

According to Telemundo 51, she was apprehended in July of that year after two incidents at gas stations in Florida City. Authorities claimed she used leftover fuel from pumps to start fires while customers and employees were present.

"What she does is she empties the pump of gasoline and throws a match, setting it on fire. Yesterday afternoon, there was a woman pumping gas, she threw a match, we ran over and chased her away," recounted the manager of one of the gas stations at the time.

Local media reported that the prosecution charged the Cuban woman with two counts of attempted murder during a felony and first-degree arson. Following her arrest, she was held without bail at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Records indicate she faced further legal troubles in 2025. In February of that year, she was detained in Monroe County for allegedly violating probation and battery. Additional arrests followed in July for failing to appear in court and in August for a warrant from another county.

The presence of a probation term suggests she was under judicial supervision, but available documentation does not clarify if it related to the 2023 gas station incidents. Nor is it clear what the final outcome of that case was or whether those charges directly led to her deportation.

After being moved through various immigration detention facilities, D. U. H. was ultimately deported from the United States. Rather than returning to Cuba, her deportation led her to Mexico.

Díaz explained that U.S. authorities encountered challenges in sending her to Cuba due to her criminal record. The deportation has also impacted her family, as her two daughters remain in the U.S. under their grandmother's care.

The young woman's mother told Díaz that her daughter suffers from schizophrenia and drug addiction, suggesting these factors should have been considered for a different outcome.

This case arises amidst the increasing trend of using Mexico as a destination for Cuban nationals expelled by the United States. Between January 2025 and March 2026, the U.S. deported 4,353 Cubans to Mexico, according to Human Rights Watch. Cubans were the largest group among nearly 13,000 third-country nationals sent to Mexico during that period.

The organization documented that some of these migrants find themselves in a legal limbo, struggling to secure documentation, work legally, and rebuild their lives.

"Years ago, they didn’t deport individuals with criminal records, but now these deportations are indeed happening, and we’re seeing it day after day," Díaz remarked.

For D. U. H., the deportation means being in a country that's neither Cuba, her birthplace, nor the United States, where she was raised from age 11, while her two daughters remain in the U.S.