On February 19, Craig Kelly, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary with the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, “became the highest ranking U.S. official sent to Cuba by President Obama for immigration talks,” according to The New York Daily News.

One of the top reasons for the trip was to continue discussion of the Cuba-U.S. Migration Accord, which ensures the safety and legality of immigration between the two countries. But, they also talked about other things, like Cuba’s recent arrest of U.S. contractor Alan Gross, who Havana officials accused of being a spy. The State Department has called for his “immediate release.”

The Daily News says Gross’s arrest, coupled with the U.S. including Cuba on a “list of states that allegedly sponsor terrorism…have replaced whatever goodwill” that was created by recent U.S. delegations to Cuba. 

It seems Cuba is also not happy that the U.S. met with political dissidents shortly after the immigration talks with the communist government. Click here to read the full story on that subject in The New York Times.