MIAMI, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Immigration officials began Friday to make preparations to deport an alleged Cuban spy although the Cuban government has not agreed to accept him.
"We intend to do that (remove him), and we will use every resource we have and seek any help we need," said Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
An immigration judge has ruled that Juan Emilio Aboy did not admit when he was admitted to the United States that he was a member of the Communist Party and trained as a spy.
The Cuban government does not usually accept deportees from the United States, but its not unprecedented.
"It's happened in the past. We have removed people to Cuba," Gonzalez said.
Attorney Grysel Ybarra, who represents Aboy, said the ruling by immigration Judge Kenneth Hurewitz set a terrible precedent and that they would appeal.
"Now anyone in the community who never put down they were belonged of the Communist Party can be removed," Ybarra said.
Ana Santiago, another INS spokeswoman, said Aboy, 42, had broken the rules.
"He was a trained spy by the Cuban government. At the time of his arrival, he was supposed to notify authorities and he did not," Santiago said.
Federal investigators say Aboy was a member of the Avispa spy network that was dismantled in 1998 and since then all of the other members have pleaded guilty or convicted on spy charges.
Huerson ruled Aboy denied his membership in the party when he entered the country and before the immigration court. He said Aboy was a member of the Revolutionary War Marines for five years and at one time was sent to Russia to study diving.
Aboy, a commercial diver, entered the United States in 1996 on a visa issued because he was married to a U.S. citizen.
Immigration officials said he was charged under INS regulations rather than charged with criminal activity because the level of proof for immigration violations is lower.
