GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (CMC)—The Deputy Governor of the Cayman Islands, Franz Manderson, says the Government is gearing up for a potential surge in migrants from Cuba amid the possibility of further economic deterioration in the country.

According to Manderson, United States (US) military action in Venezuela and its control over the sale and distribution of seized Venezuelan oil, potentially cutting off the supply of oil to Havana, may well encourage illegal migration from Cuba.

Addressing the Public Accounts Committee, Manderson spoke briefly about the preparations for the potential arrival of Cubans, using the situation as an example of how risk management is becoming an important element for the civil service.

He said a “skilled team” was working to identify and mitigate the internal and external risks that this jurisdiction faces.

The deputy governor said that one of the most topical issues now is illegal migration.

“What is going to happen if Cuba no longer gets any oil and the people start to suffer?… Is there going to be a mass migration?” he asked, noting that a team within the home affairs ministry is now working on that.

“How are we going to be able to handle, God forbid, if a few thousand Cubans arrive here in a short period of time?” he asked as he implied there could be an impending crisis.

Manderson, who was an immigration officer during the 1994 migrant crisis when more than 1,100 Cubans arrived, said that it proved to be hugely expensive for the Cayman Islands and a political headache, as the authorities grappled with the challenge of what to do with them.

Governor of the Cayman Islands, Jane Owen, recently said that Cayman’s security services are making contingency plans for the possible influx of Cuban migrants in the wake of the American seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers.

The US on January 3, 2026 launched a military strike on Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores. They were transported to New York, facing charges of “narcoterrorism”. With much of Venezuela’s oil now in the hands of the US, and given the Trump administration’s hard-line attitude towards Cuba, it’s likely that the island will be cut off from its main fuel supplier.

Owen said she recognised that people are concerned about this, and the potential impact is being carefully monitored.

She added that a committee dealing with mass migration will meet this week to discuss how the British overseas territory will manage the very real possibility of a surge in migrant numbers.

The country’s Police Commissioner Kurt Walton echoed her comments, saying that the Cayman Islands Coast Guard and Customs and Border Control are working together and sharing intelligence with regional partners to anticipate possible scenarios and avoid improvisation in the face of a humanitarian crisis that could develop within days.