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What changes and what is maintained with the new immigration agreement between Cuba and the United States?
Sergio Alejandro Gomez | 10 hours ago
The changes in US immigration policy toward Cuba were sung since the old enemies of the Cold War embarked on the path of normalization of their bilateral relations two years ago.
Not a few Cubans took the sign and decided to leave before the doors of the American dream were closed, and they were open to all those on the Island willing to risk their lives at sea or in dangerous overland voyages Throughout Latin America.
News that affects the plans of tens of thousands of people and has the potential to unleash a human avalanche is not announced in advance. That is why the world knew of the end of the migratory privileges of Cubans in the United States at the same time that they came to an end, eight days before the departure of Barack Obama and the arrival in the White House of Republican tycoon Donald Trump.
Although any change in relations between Havana and Washington goes through a tangle of legislations that overlap, the turn in this case is 180 degrees. Many aspects of the previous policy change while others, such as the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, remain immutable.
WHAT CHANGES
1. The policy of wet feet dry feet
The repeal of the policy of wet feet, established in 1995 by Democrat President Bill Clinton, is the end of a time marked by the hopes of millions of people who decided to make their way in the United States, but also by death and pain In the Strait of Florida.
The concept of wet feet referred to those boatmen intercepted at sea who were returned to Cuba in an expedited procedure between the coast guards of both countries.
Dry feet, on the other hand, are those that reach the United States by any means and regardless of the medium used. The standard procedure up to Tuesday was to facilitate Parole (parole) proceedings to guarantee everyone access to the Adjustment Act.
Since Thursday afternoon, officials of the Department of Homeland Security have totally different orientations. It will be almost impossible for anyone who does not enter the corresponding visa to access the benefits of the Cuban Adjustment Act.
2. Cubans arriving in US territory are not guaranteed to be able to stay
Arriving in US territory is no longer a guarantee of access. The Department of Homeland Security, according to the fact sheet that it published regarding the changes of policies towards Cuba, activated all the procedures for the expeditious deportations of the citizens of the island that arrive in irregular situation to any port of entry of the United States. For more than half a century, customs officials had specific instructions not to use such mechanisms in the case of Cubans.
3. There will be no preferential treatment for Cubans
One of the unique aspects of the combination of the Cuban Adjustment Act and the policy of wet feet-feet was that it gave Cubans a status of supermigrants.
According to President Obama, that ended on January 12: "In taking this measure we treat Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries."
The feeling it leaves is bittersweet. On the one hand, it is true that the singularity in the treatment was the incentive to the illegal migration and the consequent internal destabilization of Cuba. But on the other, the conditions that the Cubans received were dignified in relation to the vexations to which the rest of the underdeveloped nations are subjected.
4. Deportations or returns from the United States will begin
The absence of diplomatic relations, as well as the fact that the United States used for a long time its immigration policy as a weapon against the Revolution, conditioned the fact that there were no mechanisms for the return of Cubans from US territory, beyond established For the return of the rafts caught on the high seas.
The Joint Declaration establishes that the United States will return to "all" Cuban citizens who from the afternoon of this Thursday are detected trying to enter or stay irregularly in the territory of that country violating its laws. Mechanisms to achieve this goal are about to be released.
Obama included an aside for "humanitarian aid" cases, but Cuban diplomats were emphatic in the fact that the agreement includes "all" those who are in an irregular situation.
5. Cuba will accept some excludable
Since the time of the Mariel in 1980, it has been discussed about the return of people that the Americans consider inadmissible for having committed serious crimes that disqualify them to accede to the residence or citizenship in the United States.
Now Havana and Washington seem to have dusted off an old 2746-person list that dates back to the time and is filled with "vacant" death or elderly individuals who can not be mobilized.
Hence it has been agreed to update the list to include new names and reach the famous figure of 2746.
Cuba will decide on a case by case basis the return of other Cuban citizens who wish to return with retroactive effect to the signing of the document.
6. Thousands of people were stranded on the way to the United States
The French Press Agency reported Thursday that dozens of irregular Cuban migrants crowded into the entrance of a hostel in Panama to decide the next steps to take on their route to the United States. Some of the phrases included in the note are "Obama fucked us" and "here we will wait for Trump".
Hopefully this news will be repeated in the coming weeks. It is difficult to calculate the exact number of people who are currently traveling the route to the United States from the Island, but the figures are calculated in thousands.
Neither can it be ruled out that, as happened last year, certain agglomerations of Cubans in certain countries provoke local crises.
7. The Parole program for Cuban medical professionals is eliminated
This policy incited Cuban health personnel working in third countries to abandon their missions and emigrate to the United States and damaged Cuba's international medical cooperation programs.
Established under George W. Bush, many wondered that such a policy was being pursued while both countries were collaborating in West Africa to combat Ebola. "The United States and Cuba are working together to combat diseases that endanger the health and lives of our peoples. By giving preferential treatment to Cuban medical personnel, the conditional program for doctors contradicts those efforts, and risks causing harm to the Cuban people, "said Obama himself.
WHAT IS KEPT
1. The changes in Cuban immigration policy
Both the declaration of the Revolutionary Government and the diplomats reaffirmed that Cuba will continue to guarantee the right to travel and migrate from its citizens, as well as to return to the country, in accordance with the requirements of the law.
The update of the immigration policy of January 14, 2013 was a momentous step that put the country in a better position to face any type of contingency. And, above all, he put the inalienable rights of the people above the political needs.
It is now announced that the country will gradually adopt other measures to update the current migration policy and adjust it to present and future conditions.
Among other aspects, Cubans are still limited in the use of boats to enter and exit the country. This legislation, prolonged for too long and provoking not a few displeasures within the country, could be repealed under present conditions, to mention but one example.
2. The interception of the rafters
Another aspect that will not be affected by this agreement is the interception of rafters at any stage of the journey along the Straits of Florida.
According to data from the United States Coast Guard, in fiscal year 2016 the number of intercepts was 7,411, compared with 4,773 in 2015.
3. An intense migratory flow towards the United States
According to US government figures, since 2012, more than 120,000 Cubans showed up at US borders to apply for asylum. The figure is similar to those that left the Port of Mariel in 1980 unleashing an international conflict.
Since the rest of the Caribbean nations are also emitting illegal immigrants to the north, the flow of Cubans is likely to decline under the new conditions, but will continue to be intense.
4. Previous Migration Agreements
The migratory agreements that remain in force between Cuba and the United States were signed after the last two migratory crises, that of Mariel and the Balseros in 1994. In these two parties commit themselves to work for a "legal, orderly and safe". These remain in force.
5. The US embassy will continue to grant 20,000 migrant visas per year
That the number of visas that gather the previous migratory agreements and the American part pledged to continue fulfilling it.
What is not clear is whether they will increase the number of visas for tourism and educational or scientific exchanges after the end of the previous privileges.
6. The Parole Family Reunification Program
According to the regulations of the Department of Homeland Security, the program that benefits from a parole of entry to the United States to persons who are in the process of receiving a family reunification visa is still standing, so that they can wait for it in the territory North American and not in the Island.
7. The Cuban Adjustment Act
A key element is that the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, the hard core of US immigration policy towards the largest of the West Indies, is maintained in full force.
Cuba argues that to be consistent with the letter and spirit of the current agreement and achieve normal migration relations, it will also be necessary for the US Congress to repeal it.
Although the policy of dry feet-wet feet depends entirely on the president and its elimination did not entail any procedure in the legislature, the White House does not have equal power in the case of the Cuban Adjustment Act, whose transformation is in the hands of the Congressmen
According to all indications, Obama's plan was to shield the law so that many fewer people would be able to access it. The policy of wet feet-feet was the front door and what the president did was to close it under four keys.
Trump assumes the presidency next January 20 and during his administration will give continuity or return to the changes promoted by Obama. The road that will take is a question that has many people in vilo. But according to the Republican tycoon's record of immigrants, it is hard to believe that he might be disturbed by the end of Cuban privileges.
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