USA ends immigration amnesty for Cubans

“Cubans risk their lives every day to come here for a better future, for a better life”, said Jordan.

Felice Gorordo, Cuban American from Miami and former Obama White House staff, told the BBC this was an important step in the normalisation process and a bold move from the president.

The announcement is the latest in a series of steps Obama has taken to normalize relations between the US and the Communist island nation since restoring diplomatic ties in July 2015.

So, she applauded the Obama administration’s abrupt end to the longstanding policy, known as “wet foot, dry foot“. Founded in 1846, AP has covered all the major news events of the past 165 years, providing high-quality, informed reporting of everything from wars and elections to championship games and royal weddings. More recently, it’s been hard to reconcile the preferential status for Cubans when thousands of unaccompanied minors fleeing violence in Central America have been arriving at the southern US border. Two years after they were allowed to enter the U.S., they’d be allowed to apply for permanent residency (green cards) after only two years – giving them access to many government benefits, and the ability to apply (after 5 more years) for USA citizenship.

Throughout their murderous reign, hundreds of thousands of Cubans have fled from the Castros’ regime seeking safe haven in the United States.

The “wet foot, dry foot” policy was put in place in 1995 by President Bill Clinton as a revision of a more liberal immigration policy.

Both governments agreed to apply their migration laws in a non-selective manner and in accordance with their global obligations. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, called the law “no longer justified” in 2016.

But the shift in migration also made anti-Castro Cubans turn against “wet foot, dry foot“.

As relations warmed between the two countries under the Obama administration, alarm bells sounded throughout the Cuban community both on the island and throughout Latin America. Obama visited Havana last March.

Vianello said she shares those fears but believes those who want to come to the USA will still be able to as long as they do it legally.

“Lots of things can happen, like a rebellion or a bigger focus on these Cubans that want to make a profound and real change in Cuba now that this bridge isn’t there… there’s no escape”, he said.

The Cuban immigrant came to Southwest Florida 20 years ago thanks to the “wet foot, dry foot” policy.

US immigration policy has given Cubans benefits granted to nationals from no other country. The secretary of homeland security said that this is an “interim relationship” and that the goal is a repeal of the Cuban Adjustment Act. An additional 7,000 people arrived between October and November.

Current figures from US Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) show an exponential rise in the number of visa-less Cubans who have encountered the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at a border point of entry.

The Department of Homeland Security is also ending the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program.

Meanwhile in the United States, the growing Cuban-American population become a potent political, cultural and economic force. “However, in recent years it has also led to growing abuses”. Older Cubans, particularly those who fled Castro’s regime, tend to reject Obama’s diplomatic overtures to Cuba. He said accepting a military regime that came to power through a coup as a legitimate government sends a unsafe signal to other Latin American countries. President Obama ended it on Thursday- and even most Cubans here agree with him.