In a press release last week, Miami-Dade Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez issued a sweeping declaration that his office had revoked business licenses from 20 businesses that were 鈥渆ngaging in illegal commerce with the Cuban Communist dictatorship.鈥� The businesses had weeks to show his office that they were on the up and up after he sent them certified letters, he said, but they did not do so.
There was at least one problem: One of the businesses Fernandez publicly derided was never sent the letters where he asked for information.
Now that business, Xael Charters, is suing Fernandez, asking a federal court to bar Fernandez from effectively shutting down their business and to declare that a state law cited by Fernandez is unconstitutional.
The company only learned that its license was revoked through a post Fernandez made on social media and alleges the revocation amounts to sweeping government overreach and lack of due process.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade tax collector cracks down on companies operating in Cuba. Is it a stunt?
The action poses an 鈥渆xistential threat鈥� to the future of the small business that employs 20 people, and the claim that Xael Charters is violating federal law and supporting the communist government has resulted in "irreparable and immeasurable harm鈥� to its business and reputation, says the company.
The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve. On Monday, . Xael made a filing saying that its business tax license had been restored, but it still plans to pursue 鈥渞elief necessary to remedy ongoing harms arising from Defendant鈥檚 actions.鈥�
Earlier this month SA国际传谋 obtained a batch of all the letters that had been sent to businesses asking to show that they were in compliance with federal laws through a public records request.
Xael Charters was not included in the first batch of letters sent in late October, nor a follow-up batch of letters sent in late November.
All the other named companies received letters, according to the records.
鈥淲e follow the process, we send the letters and some of them respond to us,鈥� Fernandez, a Republican who won election in 2024, told SA国际传谋 in an interview. 鈥淲e already reinstated some of them.鈥�
Fernandez told SA国际传谋 he could not directly speak about the issues with Xael Charters after the lawsuit was filed.
In its lawsuit filed in federal court, Xael said that the tax collector鈥檚 office 鈥渘ever provided any notice whatsoever or communication鈥� indicating that its business tax license could be revoked.
An from Miami-Dade County requires that the tax collector receive written notice from the federal government finding that a business is violating federal law with respect to Cuba before it can revoke a business tax receipt.
Xael says no such notice has ever been given by the federal government.
Fernandez told SA国际传谋 in an interview that his office is 鈥渄irectly in contact with the federal government,鈥� but that as a newly independent office, he is not bound to follow county administrative orders, even though it does follow county ordinances, as he has acknowledged in previous public and on the matter. The county ordinance allows the revocation of a business tax license if a company is operating "in violation of federal law."
Florida simply allows local authorities to revoke business licenses of any company that 鈥渋s doing business with Cuba,鈥� without specifying that the business has been found to be violating federal law.
鈥溾�夾ny administrative order with the county don't have anything to do with us,鈥� said Fernandez. 鈥溾�奧e follow the state law.鈥�
The company is asking the Second District of Florida to permanently undo the revocation of the business tax license and to declare that the state law allowing tax collector鈥檚 offices to shut down companies that engage in business with Cuba be deemed unconstitutional because regulating international business and relations is only a federal authority.
SA国际传谋 has not published the names of the affected companies because it remains unclear that any have actually violated any federal law.
The company is asking the Southern District of Florida to find that the company had its right to due process violated because it was never given notice of the coming revocation. It alleges that in fact Fernandez is the one violating federal law 鈥� for trying to regulate international trade, authority that can only be exercised by the federal government. Fernandez has said more businesses that operate in Cuba will be shut down in the coming weeks and months.
Cuban-America politicians, entities celebrate
Many Cuban-American politicians and entities like the celebrated the announcement of the crackdown on businesses.
鈥淵esterday, Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez announced the immediate revocation of the Local Business Tax for several businesses found to be operating in violation of federal law through commercial ties with the Cuban communist regime,鈥� wrote a statement by the museum. 鈥淲e celebrate and support this decision, which clearly reaffirms that Miami-Dade will not serve as a platform to finance or sustain dictatorships.鈥�
鈥淓nforcing the law matters,鈥� wrote Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart in a on X. 鈥淚 commend MDC Tax Collector[Fernandez鈥檚] leadership and decisive action to hold businesses accountable for illegal commerce with the anti-American Cuban dictatorship. Miami-Dade will not be complicit in financing repression.鈥�
Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez piled on, celebrating the cancellation of business licenses owned by 鈥渁gents of the murderous Castro dictatorship鈥� that operate 鈥渇ront鈥� businesses in Florida. 鈥淲e will work together to stop these shameless thugs from taking advantage of our residents!鈥� he on X.
Fernandez distanced himself from any postings that might damage the reputation of a business or a person.
鈥淚 don't have anything to do with that. You live in a free country, people can say whatever they want to say,鈥� said Fernandez.
As SA国际传谋 has previously reported, some skeptics see Fernandez鈥� crackdown on businesses that operate in Cuba as a blatant political stunt meant to boost Fernandez as an anti-communist crusader. Fernandez said it is far from a stunt. 鈥溾�奣his is about the national security of the United States of America," he told SA国际传谋.
Legal limbo
Xael Charter flights that are already booked for the holiday season faced cancellation, possibly stranding thousands of passengers in Cuba or in the US, the company said in its lawsuit.
The revocation placed the company in a legal limbo. Without a business tax license it could not legally operate. But canceling charter flights within 10 days of planned departure violates federal Department of Transportation policy, and the company could be liable for civil penalties from the federal government. It is unclear if flights were cancelled.
Further, after the announcement, a cargo company announced that it would refuse to conduct business with Xael until the matter was resolved.
鈥淭he cargo company specifically referenced the Tax Collector鈥檚 public statements as the basis for its decision. As a result, Xael faces immediate disruption to its scheduled operations, loss of business relationships, and cascading operational and reputational harm,鈥� reads the lawsuit.
Xael Charters has been an incorporated business offering flights to Cuba since 1998.
Listed as exhibits in the lawsuit are a string of emails between the tax collector鈥檚 office and Xael from early October, when authorities first started asking questions about federal licenses. No mention of revocation was made in the emails.
In response to the email, Mercy Casals, the president and CEO of Xael, wrote that the business needed no license to operate in Cuba because federal law provides a 鈥済eneral鈥� license to operate certain kinds of business in Cuba, regardless of the ongoing embargo against Cuba. A copy of a letter the U.S. Treasury Department sent to the company in May 2025 was included, underscoring that the company did not need a specific license to do business in Cuba because it is generally allowed.
The same day Casals sent the email to the tax collector鈥檚 office, inspectors from the office arrived to inspect its operations. And that very same day 鈥� Oct. 2 鈥� the tax collector鈥檚 office renewed Xael Charter鈥檚 business license for another year.
Xael was never notified of 鈥渁lleged deficiencies鈥� or asked to provide any more information, according to the lawsuit.
Two months later, the company learned that its business tax receipt had been revoked through a social media post.
Judge Kevin Michael Moore has been assigned to the case. Moore was appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush.
