The United States immigration authorities announced this weekend the arrest in Florida of Alina Rosales Aguirreurreta, daughter of Cuban General Ulises Rosales del Toro. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement on social media, Rosales Aguirreurreta arrived in the United States three years ago with a tourist visa but stayed when it expired six months later. His case fits with increasing scrutiny by the Donald Trump Administration of relatives of Cuban officials living in the United States. In recent months, politicians and exile groups have denounced that relatives of regime officials have managed to establish themselves in the country while maintaining ties with the island.
Rosales Aguirreurreta “entered the country in 2023 with a tourist visa, valid until May 20, 2024, and did not obtain authorization to remain in the United States after that date,” said the department, on which the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) depends. “She is accused of remaining in the country beyond the period authorized for a nonimmigrant visitor and awaits a hearing before an immigration judge. ICE will release more information if it becomes public.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told EL PAÍS that Rosales Aguirreurreta was arrested on May 26 in Miami, by ICE agents, and remains in their custody. “Rosales Aguirreurreta is a foreigner with an irregular immigration status from Cuba who entered the United States with a B-2 visitor visa on November 21, 2023 through the Orlando International Airport, in Florida. She did not leave the country upon expiration of the authorized period of stay, in violation of US immigration laws,” the spokesperson said.
Rosales Aguirreurreta was not a public figure nor is he known to have held political office, but his father, General Rosales del Toro, 84, is one of the so-called historical leaders of the Revolution who fought alongside Fidel and Raúl Castro in the 1950s. Rosales del Toro was one of the founders of the Cuban Communist Party and was a member of its powerful Political Bureau. For more than a decade he directed the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and held positions such as Minister of Sugar, Agriculture and Vice President of the Council of Ministers.
A Martí Noticias report published in February identified Rosales Aguirreurreta as a resident of Miami. According to the report, the woman is a doctor by profession. The Doximity platform, used by medical service providers in the United States, shows a profile in her name as a medical assistant in Miami.
