HAVANA: The United States and Cuba on the normalization of relations continue new data reveals that over 20,300 Cubans arrived on or nearly reached US soil without a visa in fiscal year 2014.
According to Miami-based daily El Nuevo Herald, the new wave of Cuban migrants marks the highest annual number since the paper began keeping records a decade ago. Behind the surge were fears that Washington will soon reform the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which fast-tracks Cuban migrants for permanent residence, as a token of good faith to Havana.
The US Coast Guard intercepted 2,111 would-be Cuban migrants at sea in 2014The figure includes those Cubans who successfully reached Florida’s shores by boat (814 individuals) those intercepted by US authorities at sea (2,111) as well as the 17,459 migrants entering the country via the Mexican border.
A significant proportion of the total 6,489 people arrived via the Mexican border between October 1 and December 31, according to Customs and Border Protection figures, suggesting that the announcement of renewed diplomatic ties in mid-December spurred many to make the hazardous journey to US territory.
“As soon as the president announced the new policy toward Cuba, we were worried that it would provoke a wave of panic in relation to the Cuban Adjustment Act, and that was what happened,” Ramón Saúl Sánchez, leader of the Democracy Movement, told the Nuevo Herald from Cuba.
“We saw a sudden increase of what was already happening for many months, and described as a silent mass exodus from Cuba,” he added.
However, despite the talks, the US Coast Guard has reiterated that its policy towards Cuban migrants remains unchanged.
Cuban-American politicians, including Senators Marco Rubio (Florida) and Robert Menendez (New Jersey), have shared concerns that once-sacrosanct legislation fast-tracking Cuban residency in the United States needs to be changed. Critics claim that the rationale for offering political asylum is now fading, as many Cubans now hop between the island and the United States for economic reasons.
