The Immigration And Refugee Policies

Thirty-seven years to the date April 20th, 2017, Fidel Castro enacted the policy of the Mariel boatlift, in which he’d allow Cubans seeking to emigrate to the United States to do so by departing at Mariel. This number would eventually eclipse 125,000 people seeking asylum and refuge from Cuba, and the regime in which at one point they felt represented or directly opposed their own viewpoints. The first wave of Cuban exiles being the extremely wealthy, in direct opposition to Fidel Castro’s regime for a race-less society, and a single-class economy, government, and social order. The ultimatum being set at you’re with the revolution or you’re not, this encouraged former supporters of the now ousted Batista, to seek refuge in the United States.

From April 15 to October 31 in 1980, over 125,000 Cuban migrants arrived in the United States. Family members from America ferried relatives and institutionalized Cubans from the Cuban port of Mariel, in what was soon coined the Mariel Boatlift. Mirta Ojito, one of these ‘Marielitos’, as they soon were termed, grew up to write “Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus”. In this text, the author provides a historic account of events leading up to the Mariel Boatlift, narratives from important figures surrounding the event, and a personal narrative describing the struggle of her family to gain freedom from the socialist dictatorship of Fidel Castro. Throughout the story of the years preceding the boatlift and the influence that living in Cuba held on her life, Ojito describes the positive and negative elements of the both the political climate and personal life on the communist island which led to her eventual emigration to the United States.

Even though Cuba is a little under 100 miles away from the United States, the relationship between the two countries has created an atmosphere full of tension and perpetual mistrust. When Fidel Castro decided to align Cuba with the U.S.S.R. and become a communist country, the United States of America was stunned and highly insulted. Because of their relationship, both countries have played a back and forth game of trying to outdo the other. This game and state of affairs in Cuba has created a large influx of Cuban immigrants looking for better opportunities and trying to escape poverty and persecution. This paper will be focusing on Cuban immigrants and examining different Cuban immigration laws, which allowed them to easily become United States citizens, including; the Cuban Adjustment Act, The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1976 and the Wet Foot, Dry Foot Policy. It will also discuss whether the Cuban immigration laws are unfair to other foreign immigrants and whether the laws are relevant today. Finally, we will be considering the future and try to predict how the laws will change with the changing diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States and the imminent removal of the Embargo Act.

Cubans have had a long history of migrating to the United States, often for political reasons. Many Cubans, particularly cigar manufacturers, came during the Ten Years' War (1868-1878) between Cuban nationals and the Spanish military. Yet the most significant Cuban migrations have occurred in the last 35 years. There have been at least four distinct waves of Cuban immigration to the United States since 1959. While many, perhaps most, of the earlier migrants were fleeing Cuba for political reasons, more recent migrants are more likely to have fled because of declining economic conditions at home.

The fall of the Soviet Union ushered in a new era of refugee and immigration policy toward Cubans. The collapse of the Soviet Union also meant the cessation of aid to its satellites. Without Soviet aid, conditions in Cuba steadily deteriorated, and the people of Cuba took to the streets in protest. In 1994, Castro answered the uprising by allowing Cubans to leave the country unmolested, and about thirty thousand obliged by taking boats to the United States. However, prior to the mass exodus, the United States policy towards Cuba was beginning to: "First, with the end of the Cold War, there was less need to embarrass the communist regime in Cuba, although the U.S. maintained its embargo against the island. Second, there was continuing public pressure to limit immigration. Finally, it became apparent to some U.S. officials

Afro-Cubans struggled to no avail for racial equality between the years 1886-1912. The slaughter of protesting blacks in 1912 shows that the battle cries for equality of Antonio Maceo and José Marté during the war for independence had dissolved. What was left was a unequal Cuban society, divided racially and fearing a black revolution. Aline Helg speaks directly to this issue in her book Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1912. The aforementioned period was one in which the nation’s formation was taking place, thus the unsuccessful attempt at equality has left difficult remnants of racial inequality buried deeply in the fabric of the nation.

They have the leading college completion rate of all the Latino groups in the U.S. The majority of them came during the anti-Castro movement as refugees to the United States. They were generally well educated, had managerial or professional backgrounds, and therefore met with greater economical success than later immigrants (Racial and Ethnic Groups Chapter 9). Fidel Castro has ruled over Cuba for the past 48 years, and there are still people coming to the United States (Miami, Florida) to get their citizenship and running from his reign. As recent as today, some immigrants from Cuba are not accepted well, unless they are outspoken critics of Fidel Castro (Racial and Ethnic Groups Chapter 9). The younger generation is more worried about how the Miami Dolphins are doing than what is going on in Havana these days (Racial and Ethnic Groups Chapter 9).

In the article, “Why Do We Still Have an Embargo of Cuba?” Patrick Haney explores the history of the embargo and the different factors which have maintained and tightened its restrictions over the past fifty years. The embargo consists of a ban on trade and commercial activity, a ban on travel, a policy on how Cuban exiles can enter the U.S., and media broadcasting to the island. These once-executive orders now codified into law by the Helms-Burton Act, have become a politically charged topic which wins and loses elections, spawned influential interest groups, and powerful political action committees.

and Mexican governments and awareness campaigns carried out between 2013-2014 successfully sent the message to residents of the primary sending countries in Central America. However, Central American men, women and children continue to travel north into the migrant trail and across Mexico. The analysis of The Beast Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Oscar Martinez offers concrete, systematic evidence of the relative weight crime victimization plays in the migration decision. The Beast allows us to understand why these individuals continue to make the trip when seemingly fully aware o the dangers involved and supports to suggest that no matter what the dangers of migration may be in the future it is preferably to a present-day life of crime and violence endured in the Northern Triangle. Having such knowledge of what motivates Central Americans to consider migration and understanding the influence of this prior knowledge in their decision for immigration along with an understanding of how preceding U.S. and Mexican efforts to deter immigration grants the United States government to understand immigration patterns and a possible solution for mass migration crisis. The current migration dilemma and book proposes the possibility of a different attempt on behalf of the United States government to deter migration from the Northern

This article discusses the history of immigration policies between the United States and Haiti and the consequences of these policies. On September 22, 2016 the Obama administration made the drastic decision to close its doors to Haitian migrants. The administration announced that it would tighten its immigration policy on Haitians, limiting the amount of refugees that would enter. Which was a drastic change from their 2010 immigration policy that open its doors to the Haitian refugees. This new policy affected many migrating Haitian who where just days from their immigration appointments. The article recalls personal experiences about the racism and the dangers Haitians face throughout the journey. Also describing the poor conditions immigrants

This research project will investigate the migration process/journey Latin American immigrants endure in their attempts to immigrate to the United States. This paper will also study past and present immigration Laws and Policies such as: The Bracero Program (1942), the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Immigration and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, The Development, Relief, and Education

He had no argument with wanting to help others, Raul … Families giving clothing, food, money, and, sometimes, a job in the household or in a business” (Hijuelos 261). These conditions are what drove and increased Cuban culture’s impact on American

As Cubans began to enter different sects of the labor market, other than entry-level jobs, the locals complained that Cubans were stealing jobs and opportunities from them, the American people (Garcia, 20). After the “freedom flights” started, Miamians were even more displeased at the policies – disregarding that many of the Cubans would only stay temporarily in Miami and would later be resettled in other parts other parts of the country (Levine & Asis, 87). In all, some groups of locals were more welcoming and others were more resentful at the influx of Cuban immigrants.

Violence and political instability have been one of the leading causes of population displacements with refugees making up a substantial number of migrations in the last century. A perfect illustration of this has been the migration of Cuban and Haitians to the United States. The dislocation of political exile to foreign countries, USA, and Europe was a major phenomenon between 1970 and 1980. Immigration to the United States and Canada was on the rise in the 1970s and 1980s resulting from political unrest in Central American counties (Pellegrino 43). Social and political violence in Colombia, which manifested in the second half of 20th century, resulted in actual population displacement to neighboring countries as well as other continents.

While the Cold War does not mark a significant distinction from US involvement in Latin America pre-Cold War, the inclusion of ideology in US foreign policy decisions did mark a change in attitudes and focus. While US policy can be described as rational to a certain point, the Cuban dilemma caused an irrational fear in US foreign policy makers to avoid a second-Cuba. The fear of a “second Cuba” can be seen in the various interventions by the US in Latin America during this period.