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After a gap due to Covid-19 that struck in 2020, the U.S. government sent its first deportation flight to Cuba.

It comes months after the island nation agreed to accept planes carrying Cubans who were caught at the U.S.-Mexico border, reported Reuters.

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said in a statement that on Apr. 24, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resumed "normal removals processing for Cuban nationals who have received final orders of removal."

According to CBS News, the Cuban interior ministry said that 123 Cubans arrived on Monday's deportation flight. It included 83 migrants who were processed along the U.S.-Mexico border. Another 40 people were interdicted at sea.

The government of Cuba had agreed to "take no retaliatory action" against deportees, said Homeland Security officials. They added that U.S. officials in Havana had plans to monitor Cuba's commitment.

Late last year it was reported that Cuba had agreed to give U.S. authorities a limited tool. It was to deter record numbers of people crossing Cuban border.

In January, U.S. President Joe Biden took more restrictive border security measures. After that, the number of Cubans and other migrants caught at the border plummeted, as per Al Jazeera.

The DHS spokesperson said on Monday that the U.S. continues to "encourage Cubans to use lawful processes."

Earlier this month, U.S. and Cuban officials discussed migration problems. It came as the Biden administration braced for the end of border restrictions that were put in place during the pandemic. They have blocked Cubans in the last few months from crossing into America from Mexico.

In January, the U.S. embassy in Havana resumed full immigrant visa processing as well as consular services. It was done for the first time since 2017. It was done with an aim to stem record numbers of people of Cuba who were trying to enter America from Mexico.

In January, the Biden administration started expelling not just Cubans, but also Haitians and Nicaraguans who were crossing the U.S.-Mexico border under restrictions. They are known as Title 42. New legal pathways were also opened for those groups.

Last year, a record high number -- 221,000 migrants from Cuba were processed by U.S. border officials. The mass exodus from Cuba has been attributed to the economic crisis there. There is also food shortage and political repression.

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