On February 25, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) announced the expansion of “an existing Cuba-related visa restriction policy that targets forced labor linked to the Cuban labor export program. This expanded policy applies to current or former Cuban government officials, and other individuals, including foreign government officials, who are believed to be responsible for, or involved in, the Cuban labor export program, particularly Cuba’s overseas medical missions,” along with their immediate family members.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents were Cuban immigrants, said in a statement that “Cuba continues to profit from the forced labor of its workers and the regime’s abusive and coercive labor practices are well documented. Cuba’s labor export programs, which include the medical missions, enrich the Cuban regime, and in the case of Cuba’s overseas medical missions, deprive ordinary Cubans of the medical care they desperately need in their home country.”
