ICE arrests – Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Adys Lastres Morera in Florida on May 21, accusing her of helping manage overseas assets tied to GAESA, a Cuba conglomerate controlled by the island’s armed forces. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Depa
On a May day in Florida, Adys Lastres Morera was taken into federal custody after Immigration and Customs Enforcement accused her of maintaining ties to a Cuban military-linked business network.
ICE said Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Morera on May 21. In a press release, the agency described her as a lawful permanent resident who had been living in the United States while helping manage overseas assets connected to Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., known as GAESA.
ICE linked Morera to GAESA through her family. The agency said she is the sister of a senior executive linked to the conglomerate. GAESA. ICE said. is a state-run conglomerate overseen by Cuba’s armed forces. controlling major sectors of the Cuban economy. including tourism. retail. banking. and logistics. ICE characterized the organization as “the heart of that country’s kleptocratic communist system” and said it controls up to $20 billion in illicit assets.
At the time of publication, no criminal charges had been announced.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department revoked Morera’s green card. In a post on X, Rubio wrote that Morera was managing real estate assets and living in Florida while also aiding Havana’s communist regime, until he “terminated her permanent resident status.”
Morera has been a lawful permanent resident since 2023, according to ICE. The agency said she entered the United States on January 13, 2023, under the Biden administration, and that she has not applied for U.S. citizenship or a passport.
Her name also ties to one of the most prominent figures in Cuba’s state-business apparatus. ICE said Morera’s sister is Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, a Cuban brigadier general and executive president of GAESA. Cuban state media had reported that Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera became the public head of GAESA after the death of Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja in 2022. and that she was formally confirmed in the role in 2023. according to reports.
The U.S. government moved against that leadership in early May. On May 7, the State Department slapped sanctions on Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera and GAESA, accusing the conglomerate of supporting the Cuban government and dominating much of the island’s economy.
ICE said Morera will remain in federal custody pending removal proceedings.
Acting HSI Executive Associate Director John Condon said Morera’s presence in the United States poses “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” He also said Rubio determined Morera is removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Condon said allowing Morera to remain would send a signal that Cuban regime-affiliated networks could continue to access the U.S.’s financial, educational, and social institutions, but that “is not the case.”
Legal experts say the case is aimed at a narrow but consequential question—whether support tied to a sanctioned foreign government can strip someone of permanent resident status.
Neama Rahmani. a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers. told Newsweek that the government’s treatment of Morera falls within existing legal authorities. He said lawful permanent residents have more due process rights than temporary residents on visas. but they still can be removed if they materially supported a sanctioned foreign government or acted as an undeclared foreign agent.
“That’s why Morera and GAESA’s connection to the Cuban military matters,” Rahmani said.
He added, “Expect to see more charges and arrests of Cuban nationals in the coming days and weeks.”
The move comes as the Trump administration presses Cuba on multiple fronts. Rubio has called for a new relationship tied to reducing military control of the economy and has blamed Cuba’s leadership and GAESA for the country’s situation. ICE’s press release also placed Morera’s arrest within broader policy efforts to put pressure on Cuba.
Cuba has faced severe fuel shortages and blackouts since January after Venezuelan oil supplies were cut off following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The Trump administration also issued an executive order threatening sanctions on countries that supply crude to the Havana regime.
That pressure is running alongside new court action involving hardliners in Havana. Federal prosecutors indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro on Wednesday on charges including murder connected to the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.
The Justice Department said it unsealed an indictment charging Castro, 94, and several co-defendants over the February 24, 1996, shootdown. Prosecutors said the charges include conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft, and multiple counts of murder. The department said four people were killed when Cuban military aircraft targeted the planes over international waters.
For Morera, the immediate stakes are clear: ICE says her case will move forward through removal proceedings while she remains in federal custody.
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