Election could decide fate of Cuban felons facing deportation

MIAMI — For the past year, the leading Republican presidential candidates have drawn a hard line on deporting illegal immigrants — especially front-runner Donald Trump, who has promised to build a towering wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to stop others from crossing.

[...] the Obama administration has said it “has no plans to change” its “current immigration policy toward Cuba” — meaning a diplomatic stalemate persists over the pending removal orders of Cuban felons, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

[...] given the slow pace of U.S.-Cuba talks over more pressing issues such as trade — Obama plans to make a historic visit to the island later this month — the fate of Cuban felons living on U.S. soil will probably be answered by his successor in the White House.

[...] the Obama administration has aggressively enforced U.S. law requiring the deportation of other foreign nationals with criminal convictions: