U.S. ICE moves to strip citizenship of Cuban-American fraud convict and deport multiple criminal immigrants

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it is pursuing denaturalization and deportation of Yosmaikel Rodríguez Pérez, a Cuban‑American who was convicted of a Medicare fraud scheme that defrauded the federal program of nearly $900,000. The agency says the process, begun under the Trump administration, is based on the claim that Rodríguez Pérez concealed his criminal conduct when he obtained permanent residency in 2004 and naturalized in 2018. He has been sentenced to 19 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution.

In the same week ICE also deported several non‑citizen individuals with criminal convictions, including Moisés Gutiérez and Pedro Gómez‑Díaz of Mexico, Jorge Barrientos‑Amaya of Costa Rica, and José de Jesús Zumba Pesantez of Ecuador. Their offenses ranged from kidnapping and armed assault to drug smuggling and burglary. ICE officials said the removals are part of ongoing efforts to protect public safety.