In the four years to Sept. 30, 2019, U.S. immigration authorities deported 1,866 Cubans. Most of those took place in the most recent year, when the U.S. deported 1,179 Cubans.
Additionally, in the 2019 reporting period, the immigration agency said nearly 21,500 Cuban "inadmissibles" sought entry along the Southwest border. Under U.S. law, an "inadmissible alien" is not permitted to enter the U.S. for a wide variety of reasons.
Changes in processing asylum petitions have forced thousands of Cubans to wait across the border in Mexico. More Cubans have sought asylum as certain immigration preferences were eliminated following the "normalization" of diplomatic relations under the Obama administration. The Trump administration has continued to enforce the immigration changes and added other restrictions.