NewzMIAMI, United States (CMC) – United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says it has deported a Cuban man who is also a Guatemalan citizen after investigators determined that he fraudulently obtained lawful permanent resident status by concealing his affiliation with the Cuban government. ICE said Fernando Armando Valdes Perez, 61, of Kendall, Florida, was arrested at Miami International Airport on July 10 during an immigration enforcement operation involving ICE, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). “Investigators determined Valdes was a Cuban intelligence asset tasked with infiltrating and reporting on Cuban exile and dissident communities in Latin America and the United States as early as the mid-1990s,” ICE said.
The agency alleged that Valdes gained the trust of the late anti-Castro dissident Luis Posada Carriles and remained close to other prominent Cuban and Cuban-American figures in South Florida until his arrest. According to ICE, Valdes knowingly concealed his position and affiliation with the Cuban government when he applied for and obtained lawful permanent resident status, deliberately deceiving US immigration authorities. “Individuals who conceal ties to foreign intelligence services and exploit our immigration system pose a serious threat to the integrity of that system and to our national security,” said Matthew Elliston, director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Miami Field Office.
“ICE will continue working with our federal partners to identify, arrest and remove those who obtain immigration benefits through fraud,” he added. Valdes was processed and placed in removal proceedings following his arrest and has since been deported from the United States.
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