Trump's Caribbean strike, focus on Latin America brings new focus to potential regime 'agents' living in US

The only Cuban-born U.S. congressman returns to the island for the first time since childhood

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., tells Fox News Digital his visit to Gitmo reinvigorated his will to see Cuba free oncemore.

EXCLUSIVE: As President Donald Trump directs a rare U.S. defense posture toward Latin America – with a military strike in the Caribbean against alleged drug-smuggling gang members and a bounty on the head of a Central American strongman leader – the nation’s only Cuban-born lawmaker called Tuesday for new attention to Havana as well.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., who fled dictator Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1960 as a young boy, called on the Department of Homeland Security to act upon or at the least investigate a list of dozens of people his office and/or human rights organizations had identified as tied to the current regime of Miguel Diaz-Canel or the deceased Castro brothers.

Gimenez, who also represents the congressional district closest to Cuba – in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties – warned DHS Secretary Kristi Noem of the "presence of agents of the murderous Castro regime and the Communist Party of Cuba currently residing in the United States."

A spokesperson for DHS indicated Tuesday that the department was looking into the matter.

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Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel smokes a cigar during a humidor auction held as part of the closing ceremony of the XXV Habanos Festival in Havana, on Feb. 28, 2025.  (Yamil Lage/Getty Images)

The letter adds to a drumbeat of pressure on the administration to broaden its crackdown beyond Venezuela to Cuba — a regime Gimenez and others argue is on its "last breath." 

Earlier this year, the Cuban-born lawmaker told Fox Business that the U.S. should "freeze the regime’s economic oxygen" and predicted, "The Castro regime is on the edge, and President Trump should kick them over the edge."

The letter listed people Gimenez said are in the U.S. under humanitarian programs, whom pro-democracy groups link to Diaz-Canel’s communist regime and accuse of "perpetrating countless human rights abuses."

More broadly, the Trump administration has taken swift action against Latin American threats, including an airtstrike on a skiff that was carrying suspected gang-member-terrorists reportedly trafficking drugs.

The feds considered the strike in self-defense of the homeland, but critics in Congress expressed concerns over its alignment with the War Powers Act.

The move marked one of the most muscular U.S. military actions in the hemisphere in years and followed the administration’s decision to place a $50 million bounty on Maduro’s head. 

Trump previously named Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, which gives the government broader leeway in tactics used to combat such threats.

Three warships were deployed to the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela in another example of the Trump administration's growing concern over regional threats in America's hemisphere.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine touched down in Puerto Rico on Monday to bolster military operations there.

Met by Puerto Rico Republican Gov. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon and First Gentleman Jose Yovin Vargas, they thanked the administration for recognizing the island protectorate's "strategic importance to our national security" – as Hegseth also indicated to troops in the region their deployment wasn't for training purposes.

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Anti-government protesters gather at the Maximo Gomez monument in Havana, Cuba. Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in several cities in Cuba to protest against ongoing food shortages and high prices of foodstuffs. (AP Photo/Eliana Aponte)

Together, the steps suggest a renewed focus on countering the region’s cartels, dictatorships, and migration pressures after years of U.S. attention centered on the Middle East and Asia. That backdrop has emboldened Cuban-American lawmakers and activists to call for parallel action against Havana. 

Of the names in Gimenez' letter, several are labeled as tied to or members of Brigadas de Accion Rapida – or Rapid Response Brigade. That group is made up of designated citizens who essentially patrol for dissidents.

The letter followed a similar missive in March that first brought to light the potential that numerous Cuban agents are living under the radar in the U.S.

"It is crucial that the Department of Homeland Security enforce existing U.S. laws to identify, deport, and repatriate these individuals who pose a threat to our national security," Gimenez wrote in the letter.

In his original letter, Gimenez warned many of the individuals "gamed" the immigration system and therefore are a "direct insult" to legitimate Cuban exiles who fled to Florida and beyond seeking the personal freedoms their families once enjoyed on the island.

Gimenez spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital earlier this year when he joined a congressional delegation to Guantanamo Bay’s U.S. military installation.

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He said he was overcome with emotion upon returning to his homeland for the first time in 64 years, noting it was bittersweet in that he could not actually visit Cuba-proper.

The Miami lawmaker asked Noem to provide a report by September 26 detailing whether DHS has investigated the listed names, pursued deportation or removal proceedings, and, if not, why no action was taken.

Fox News Digital's Caitlin McFall and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].