'An opportunity for us to prosper': Why Las Vegas is becoming a magnet for Cubans

Dennis Martinez Miranda, a chef at the popular Cuban restaurant Cubanidad 1885, said that it was economic opportunity that first brought him to the Las Vegas area. 

Like many Cubans, Martinez Miranda originally came to the U.S. because he was fleeing political turmoil. In the early 2010s, he first settled in Miami — a city known for its huge Cuban diaspora — but it was Las Vegas that afforded him the opportunity to open his own restaurant with his friends. 

"Around eight years in, I moved to Las Vegas because I met my business partners," Martinez Miranda, 47, said in a Spanish-language interview with The Nevada Independent at one of his three restaurant locations. On a late weekday afternoon, the restaurant was sprinkled with customers and cooking smells wafted from the kitchen. Martinez Miranda would occasionally stop to speak with employees in Spanish, asking them to prepare coffee or help with other tasks. 

"It was a challenge, but really it was an opportunity for us to prosper, as we Cubans like to say," he added. 

Martinez Miranda is one of thousands of Cubans living in Nevada — a trend that has taken off across the past decade. The Associated Press recently released data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the self-reported destinations of 4.5 million migrants after crossing the Mexican border between October 2018 and September 2025.

A Nevada Independent analysis of that data found that Nevada had the second highest share of Cuban migrants at 41 percent, trailing only Kentucky.

Valerie Lacarte, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute who studies Cuban migration trends, said the numbers don't surprise her. Recent changes in U.S. immigration policy have made it so more Cubans are migrating to the Southwest, instead of traditional hotbeds such as Miami, she said. A collapsing economy has also driven more Cubans to migrate in recent years, leading to one of the largest exoduses in the country's history. 

"There's the economic condition that deteriorated…That was accompanied by political dissatisfaction," Lacarte said. "There were a lot of factors in Cuba that have provoked the outflow of Cubans all over the region."

In particular, Lacarte pointed to the end of the longstanding "wet foot, dry foot" policy in 2017. Under that policy, any Cuban that touched U.S. soil was allowed to stay and eventually become a legal resident. The end of that policy and other factors shifted the main portal of Cuba-to-U.S. migration from Florida to Central America and Mexico.

She added that many who have recently come to the United States may not have the same ties to the Cuban diaspora in Florida, and may be more open to economic opportunities elsewhere.

That dynamic is at play in Houston, another area that Lacarte studied. Houston has become home to one of the country's most vibrant Cuban communities, something that has been partly driven by Houston's affordability, an attribute that could also account for Clark County's attraction.

A signal of this economic optimism is Nevada's Latin Chamber of Commerce. The chamber was founded in 1976 by Cuban entrepreneur Otto Merida as a way to help the Latino community in Clark County build its political and social power. The chamber's current president is Peter Guzman, who migrated from Cuba at 2 years old after his father lost his job. 

"What I hope for the next 50 years to the Latin chamber is continue to push a dignified life for all Latinos, for all immigrants, to help them reach the dream, the American dream," Guzman said at a recent celebration of the chamber's 50th anniversary. The Latin Chamber of Commerce did not respond to an interview request from The Indy. 

All of the Cuban migration to the Silver State has occurred in Southern Nevada. More than 50 percent of Las Vegas' migrant population is made of Cuban immigrants and they make up about 45 percent of that population in Henderson.

Martinez Miranda said that he has been afforded numerous economic opportunities while living in Southern Nevada. His restaurant recently provided catering services to the Las Vegas Raiders and he has been able to open multiple locations thanks to the restaurant's success. 

He said that he knows of many other local Cuban businesses that are likewise thriving, including the nearby restaurant Carlito's Cuban Food. He said that he's been pleased to discover that Las Vegas is as welcoming as Miami.

"I've been surprised," Martinez Miranda said. "There's been a lot of Cuban community here."