Cuban refugees have long been allowed into the US. What's happening now?
More than 1.7 million Cubans have fled to the United States since Fidel Castro's revolution took power on Jan. 1, 1959.
But the more than 300,00 Cubans who have come to the U.S. in the past 12 months represent the largest exodus in Cuba's history.
It surpasses the 250,000 Cuban exiles who fled from 1959 to 1962 in the immediate aftermath of Castro's toppling of dictator Fulgencio Batista, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
The newest wave is larger than the 260,000 Cubans who fled to the U.S. on so-called Freedom Flights from 1965 to 1975, when the Castro regime allowed Cubans to leave to quell discontent and the U.S. agreed to finance the twice-daily trips from Havana to Miami to help Cuban refugees with relatives in the U.S. escape the Communist regime.
Since then, several other large waves of Cubans have come to the U.S.
Why did Cuban immigrants come to America?
Some 125,000 Cubans fled on boats from Cuba to Florida during the Mariel boatlift from April to September 1980, when Castro declared any Cuban who wanted to leave could amid a downturn in the economy and rising civil unrest. And 32,000 Cuban "balseros" − rafters − came on makeshift rafts during the 1994 Cuban rafter crisis after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In response to the rafter crisis, the Clinton administration created the "wet foot, dry foot" policy that generally allowed Cubans who reached U.S. soil to be paroled into the U.S., where after one year and one day they became eligible to apply for permanent residency under the 1996 Cuban Adjustment Act. Cubans caught at sea attempting to reach the U.S., however, would be sent back to Cuba, under the policy.
As a result, Cuban migration to the U.S. shifted from sea to land, with more Cubans traveling through Mexico and then entering through legal ports of entry, primarily in Texas and Arizona, where they were typically paroled into the U.S.
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Why are more Cuban immigrants trying to cross the southern US border?
In 2017, President Barack Obama ended "wet foot, dry foot" as part of the normalization of relations with Cuba.
Now the worst economic crisis in decades and mounting political repression to quell dissent are driving more Cubans to flee on smuggling boats to reach Florida 90 miles away through the Florida Straits, where they risk being caught by the U.S Coast Guard and sent back.
As a result, the vast majority of Cubans fleeing their country have instead chosen a far longer and more dangerous route, flying first to Nicaragua and then paying coyotes to travel on land through Central America and Mexico to reach the U.S. southern border, where until recently they had a much better chance of being allowed to enter and remain in the U.S. after turning themselves over to border authorities.
What is humanitarian parole?
To deter unauthorized migrants from making the perilous journey through Mexico, the Biden administration announced in January a new program that allows up to 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans with U.S. sponsors to enter the U.S. legally with permits through a process known as humanitarian parole. At the same time, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who cross the border without authorization now face immediate expulsion under Title 42, a pandemic-era border policy.
The parole program is administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Starting Jan. 6, Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans can apply for the parole program online.
To be eligible, they must have a sponsor in the U.S. who agrees to support them financially for the duration of their time in the U.S. as a parolee and undergo a "clear robust security vetting," according to the USCIS. Sponsors in the U.S. must a form for each person they wish to sponsor. There is no fee for either applicants or sponsors.
Sponsors must be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (green card holders) or hold some other legal status in the U.S., pass a security and background check, and show they have sufficient resources to "receive, maintain, and support the individuals they are agreeing to support for the duration of their parole period."
Cubans are expected to receive most of the 30,000 parole permits allocated per month because they tend to have more ties to relatives in the U.S. with money and the know-how to apply as sponsors, said Ariel Ruiz, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute.
What's more, Cubans who enter the U.S. with humanitarian parole are eligible to apply for a green card — legal permanent residency — after living in the U.S. for one year and one day under the Cuban Adjustment Act, said William Desantiago, an immigration lawyer at Catholic Charities in Phoenix.
Five years after receiving a green card, they will be eligible to apply for citizenship, Desantiago said.
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How does the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act apply now?
Only Cubans are eligible to apply for permanent residency under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. The law was intended to destabilize the Castro regime and help Cubans escaping communism. The same benefit is not available to immigrants from other countries, Desantiago said.
To get a green card, Haitians, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans who come to the U.S. through Biden's parole program will have to apply for asylum, or have an immediate family member who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident who can sponsor them for permanent residency, Desantiago said.
"They do not qualify for the Cuban Adjustment Act, and there is no similar statute relating to them," he said.
Most Cubans who previously came through the southern border were granted humanitarian parole to enter the U.S. and therefore will also be eligible to apply for a green card after one year and one day under the Cuban Adjustment Act, Desantiago said.
Those not granted humanitarian parole but allowed into the U.S. were released on bond or an I-220A order of recognizance, he said.
"The only real option" Cubans released on bond or by an order of recognizance have is to apply for asylum, Desantiago said.
What happens to Cuban migrants apprehended at the border?
There is some legal dispute, however, whether Cubans released on orders of recognizance are also eligible to apply for a green card under the Cuban Adjustment Act, he said.
In the past, even Cubans who were ordered deported remained in the U.S. because Cuba refused to accept Cuban deportees.
In November, Cuba agreed to begin accepting deportation flights with Cubans apprehended at the U.S. southern border, NBC News reported.
In December, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Department of Homeland Security had inadvertently informed the Cuban government that some of the Cubans the U.S. was trying to send back to Cuba had expressed fear of persecution and torture, putting them at risk of retaliation by the Cuban government if sent back.
Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-444-8312. Follow him on Twitter @azdangonzalez.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why and how did Cuban immigrants start to come to America?
