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Javier Galeano / AP, file
Cuban coast guards, right, stop men from trying to migrate illegally to the U.S. on a foam raft near Havana's Malecon in this June 4, 2009 file photo.
HAVANA -- After controlling the comings and goings of its people for five decades, communist Cuba appears on the verge of a momentous decision to lift many travel restrictions. One senior official says a "radical and profound" change is weeks away.
The comment by Parliament Chief Ricardo Alarcon has residents, exiles and policymakers abuzz with speculation that the much-hated exit visa could be a thing of the past, even if Raul Castro's government continues to limit the travel of doctors, scientists, military personnel and others in sensitive roles to prevent a brain drain.
Other top Cuban officials have cautioned against over-excitement, leaving islanders and Cuba experts to wonder how far Havana's leaders are willing to go.
In the past 18 months, Castro has removed prohibitions on some private enterprise, legalized real estate and car sales, and allowed compatriots to hire employees, ideas that were long anathema to the government's Marxist underpinnings.
Scrapping travel controls could be an even bigger step, at least symbolically, and carries enormous economic, social and political risk.
Actors in Cuba escape film say they're seeking US asylum
Even half measures — such as ending limits on how long Cubans can live abroad or cutting the staggeringly high fees for the exit visa that Cubans must obtain just to leave the country — would be significant.
"It would be a big step forward," said Philip Peters, a Cuba expert at the Virginia-based Lexington Institute. "If Cuba ends the restrictions on its own citizens' travel, that means the only travel restrictions that would remain in place would be those the United States imposes on its citizens."
The move would open the door to increased emigration and make it easier for Cubans overseas to avoid forfeiting their residency rights, a fate that has befallen waves of exiles since the 1959 revolution.
After decades of rule under Castro, citizens of the communist island nation are enjoying new freedoms such as buying property, owning businesses and openly participating in religious gatherings. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports from Havana.
It could also bolster the number of Cubans who travel abroad for work, increasing earnings sent home in the short term and, ultimately, investment by a new moneyed class.
Scrapping exit controls should win Cuba support in Europe, which improved ties after dozens of political prisoners were freed in 2010.
Reporter's notebook: Return to Cuba
But Peters and several other analysts said they doubt the new rules would bring about any immediate shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba, which includes a ban on American tourism. Those restrictions are entrenched and enjoy the backing of powerful Cuban American exiles.
"I don't think it would lead to a drastic change in U.S. policy, but an accumulation of human rights improvements could lead to an incremental change," Peters said.
'Fundamental freedom' the real issue
Cuba-born Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida, said any discussion about immigration reform on the island is a peripheral issue.
"The kind of changes I'm interested in are not about immigration," said Ros-Lehtinen, who heads the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. "I'm interested in changes that affect fundamental freedom, democracy and respect for human rights."
Cuba detains 70 'Ladies in White' ahead of Pope visit
U.S. officials said they have been watching for an announcement for months, noting there has been such talk as far back as August. But nothing has happened, and they are skeptical that the Castro regime is truly committed to such reform.
Asked about possible reciprocal measures, one U.S. official said the Obama administration can't promise anything because it doesn't know what exactly Cuba plans to announce. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly and demanded anonymity.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. "would certainly welcome greater freedom of movement for the Cuban public."
Pope says communism does not work in Cuba
Rumors of the exit visa's imminent demise have circulated on and off for years. The whispers became open chatter last spring after the Communist Party endorsed migration reform at a crucial gathering. But Castro dashed those hopes in December, saying the timing wasn't right and the "fate of the revolution" was at stake.
Alarcon's comments, made in an interview published in April, revived hopes that a bold move is coming.
"One of the questions that we are currently discussing at the highest level of the government is the question of emigration," he told a French journalist. "We are working toward a radical and profound reform of emigration that in the months to come will eliminate this kind of restriction."
But on Saturday, Vice Foreign Minister Dagoberto Rodriguez told exiles not to set their hopes too high, vowing the government would maintain some travel controls as long as it faced a threat from enemies in Washington.
'Absurd' to need permission
Havana residents say they are anxiously waiting to see what the government does.
"The time has come to get rid of the exit visa," said Vivian Delgado, a shop worker. "It's absurd that as a Cuban I must get permission to leave my country, and even worse that I need permission to come back."
Domingo Blanco, a 24-year-old state office worker, added: "It's as if one needed to ask to leave one's own house."
Many Cubans are reluctant to talk about their own experience with the exit visa. One woman named Miru, who has been trying to leave Cuba since 2006, shared her story on the condition her full name not be used for fear that speaking with a foreign journalist could land her in trouble.
"This has been a very long process," she said of her odyssey, which began when her husband defected from a medical mission in Africa and sought asylum in the U.S.
First, she had to get a letter releasing her from her job at a government ministry — a process that took five years. Only then could she apply for the exit visa. That was three months ago, and Miru still hasn't received an answer. Officials say her case is complicated but won't give a specific reason for the delay.
"I am very anxious to see my husband again," she said.
The exit controls are a Cold War legacy of Cuba's alliance with the Soviet Union. They were instituted in December 1961 to fight brain drain as hundreds of thousands of doctors and other professionals fled, many for new lives in Florida. That was three months before the U.S. embargo barring most trade with the island went into full effect.
Over the years, it has become much easier for Cubans to obtain permission to travel, though many are still denied, and it is particularly hard to take children out of the country.
Also, the exit visa's $150 price tag is a small fortune in a country where salaries average about $20 a month. In addition, the person the traveler wishes to visit must pay $200 at a Cuban consulate.
Those who leave get only a 30-day pass, and the cost of an extension varies by country. In the U.S., the fee is $130 a month. Those who stay abroad more than 11 months lose the right to reside in Cuba. Before 2011, any property would automatically go to the state.
"The Cuban government has monetized every part of the humiliating process of coming and going," said Ann Louise Bardach, a longtime Cuba expert and author of "Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana and Washington." "Getting out means running a gantlet, and it is all based on how much humiliation you can endure, and by the time they end up in Miami, people are filled with hate and dreams of revenge."
U.S. accused of enticing doctors
Cuban officials have long portrayed the measures as necessary to counter Washington's meddling. They accuse the U.S. of trying to lure away doctors by letting them walk into any American consulate and request asylum.
Cuban officials say even ordinary islanders are encouraged to leave by U.S. regulations that automatically grant asylum to any who reach American shores, a policy Cuba says has encouraged thousands to attempt the dangerous trip on leaky boats and makeshift rafts across the Florida Straits.
It's not clear how emigration reform will affect dissidents, who are routinely denied permission to leave and could still find themselves on some form of no-exit list.
In a recent New York Times opinion piece, dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez called the exit controls "our own Berlin Wall without the concrete ... a wall made of paperwork and stamps, overseen by the grim stares of soldiers." She has been denied travel papers at least 19 times by her own count.
Some hardliners in Florida predict any change will be merely a sleight of hand designed to export malcontents, ease a severe housing shortage and fob off legions of superfluous state workers.
But for hundreds of thousands of Cubans like Miru, the exit visa is a personal matter, not political. After six years separated from her husband, she clings to hope that she will finally obtain permission or benefit from a change in the law.
"I have followed all the rules of my country," she said. "I'll be so happy to leave."
The U.S. government contractor, who was imprisoned two years ago for bringing communications equipment into Cuba for a U.S. government democracy project, called NBC's Andrea Mitchell from jail in Havana.
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Leave a Comment:
Cuba is faced with a dilemma. With the world economy as it is, this tropical island nation may have trouble keeping outsiders from coming in, despite its continued communist stance.
Why would people want to go to Cuba for any reason besides tourism? Their economy isn't doing any better than anyone else's. And considerably worse that much of the rest of Central and South America.
Great now all those American's that want to be commies can move THERE!!!!!!!!!!
Reality is this sounds more like a "get ready Florida"! Here we go again.
The Castro's are getting ready to empty their jails on us again. Time to lift all embargo restrictions and watch how fast the Castro's tumble. Those who fled after the revolution and lost their land and homes will just have to get over it.
America is faced with a dilemma.
Because of the USA's "Wet feet, dry feet policy" every Cuban that comes to the USA would be eligible for expedited "legal permanent resident" status and, eventually, U.S. citizenship.
Cuba is smarter than you. Inundate you with more Spanish-speaking migrants that the US government has determined long ago are eligible for permanent resident status before you get a chance to change the laws... that way when the law is finally changed, there will be plenty of Cuban Americans able to sponsor a multitude of Cuban residents for US Citizenship, if they so please.
If this happens, then the US policy o automatically granting asylum to any Cuban who makes it to our shores needs to change. Otherwise the US will be inundated with all of the undesirables that Castro once again decides to empty into the US. Castro emptied his prisons into the US once before and is not doubt planning on doing it again. Our economy can not take an influx of Cuban "refugees" who have no immediate means of supporting themselves. Unless they have family here in the US willing to take responsibility for their welfare, we should refuse entry. To even allow these people into the US means they will become permanent residents. Even if they come in on a short term tourist visa you know that they have no intention of going back. They will simply apply for asylum and remain here. If they are not granted asylum they will simply become part of the huge number of illegals we already have here. I highly doubt that anyone who comes here from Cuba will have any intention of ever going back,at least not as long as Castro is still in control.
Oh great, there goes the model health care system the libs all love! Dont you know people are too stupid to be free? We need the Government to guide us along!
They are having problems with money and controling their population and know they want to let them travel so they can run here claim they want to stay here and we are going ot hav e to give them all sorts of aid . DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO TRAVEL HERE unless they are made to return home.
We have food stamp cards being given to people we see at the store buying food with it, yet some are wearing gold jewelry, have their hair dyed and permed, they are wearing fake nails with designs airbrushed on them, they go out to their car and many times they have newer better cars then some of us can afford. Why if we hav e food stamps should we also need free school lunches aand especially free breakfasts and dinners??? there are programs for assistance with your electric, water and gas bills if you are low income, any of those companies will tell you who and where to go to get the help! There are Earned income credits for those who make less money, why because they had a kid??? 50% of all people pay NO TAXES. Why with welfare is there WIC ( FREE FOOD FOR WOMEN INFANTS AND CHILDREN) .
. We are tired of paying double taxes, hidden taxes and increases fee's for everything. The thousands and thousands we pay in taxes could go TO PROVIDING A BETTER AND EASIER LIFE FOR OUR FAMILIES.MANY many of us are getting tired of paying more and more to support those that do, produce, contribute NOTHING
What kind of retarded people post in here? This is about easing immigration controls from the Cuban side FOR PEOPLE TRYING TO LEAVE CUBA LEGALLY THROUGH PROPER IMMIGRATION CHANNELS. There is no flood gates being opened, go back to school if you can't interpret what the heck are you reading.
With our economy in the state that it is in we cannot afford to have any more people coming in right now that do not have work set up or a great prospect for work, We cannot afford to feed and care for more people right now. just because they are making it easier for them to leave legally does not mean we can afford to have them come here right now.
The easing of exit visa rules may or may not happen. But the next thing that will certainly happen is the end of automatic asylum granted to Cubans.
During the Cold War era any USSR citizen requesting asylum in the USA or any US consulate throughout the world was getting it. As soon as Gorbachev eased travel restrictions that asylum policy ended.
If Cuban authorities ease the restrictions, what would make a Cuban trying to immigrate to USA different from any Mexican or Honduran? The answer is - nothing. So dear Cuban would-be immigrants, welcome to the lines for family re-unification (takes many years of waiting and cutting through multiple red tapes) and to the ranks of "undocumented" (politically correct term for "illegal") aliens.
bluthunder that is not your decision, I understand your concern, but we offer legal immigration quotas to every country and Cuba is just one more. I believe Cuba's quota is 20,000 visas per year. You can always ask your House Representative to eliminate their legal immigration quota.
We dont want them here if they are illegals as they will cause more problems for the economy.
Come back when you are legal citizen.
Dwight,
As soon as a a Cuban sets foot on U.S. soil they are granted citizenship. So no matter how many come, they would be citizens as soon as they reach the beaches, with all the perks: voting rights, drivers licenses, unemployment and welfare.
They ARE NOT granted citizenship. What they are granted is the right to apply for residency within a year, a very accelerated time frame.
They're still not illegal, though.
I for one very much hope that Cuba's most intelligent and successful citizens make it here in droves. More producers for us, less for the Commies.
Stay gone or be gone!- (Pulp Fiction quote)= Thought it fit for this topic.
As soon as Cubans dry foot in Miami they are on the path to citizenship. No wonder Marco Rubio is against the dream act for children brought to this country as infants(from countries other than Cuba) getting that kind of benefit. He wants to keep the slots open for his countrymen. If this report is true then the trickle Cubans into Miami is going to become a flood. The Mexicans are going home and the Cubans are coming. I am not aganst immigration, some great people have come to our shores, but let us have a level playing field for all.
America is faced with a dilemma.
Because of the USA's "Wet feet, dry feet policy" every Cuban that comes to the USA would be eligible for expedited "legal permanent resident" status and, eventually, U.S. citizenship.
Marielitos all over again.Florida's official language will be cubanismo.(ticotico)
Great. Another place to outsource jobs too.
We still have an embargo in place, and it's not going to lift anytime soon.
The embargo is only travel TO Cuba, not FROM Cuba.
Because of the USA's "Wet feet, dry feet policy" every Cuban that comes to the USA would be eligible for expedited "legal permanent resident" status and, eventually, U.S. citizenship.
...at least until the policy is changed... and the party of "NO" will certainly screw this one up like Boehner screwed up the payroll tax cut.
Those restrictions are entrenched and enjoy the backing of powerful Cuban American exiles.
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We are Americans.....why are OUR policies being dictated by some ISLAND CLOWNS? Are all these Cubans also going to get U.S. citizenship like we give every other refugee? Why does this policy never change?
Cuban-Americans are also Americans. I don't like their positions, but they have the same right to lobby as the NRA, for instance.
Well, for one thing, it's an easy thing for both parties to give the hispanic community without violating any particular political tenet. There isn't huge demand for normalization of relations with Cuba. Most people are ambivalent, so our leaders listen to the group that is not.
Cuban-American is a funny term since EVERY Cuban is a possible U.S. citizen. They get citizenship the minute they swim ashore. They are entitled to the same benefits you have accumulated over your lifetime.
Cubans hate hearing any other opinion beside their own, but they forget that in America, we can express different opinions. The influence of these exiles has stymied any efforts to create meaningful conversation with Castro. We are allowed to talk to terrorist Muslims, but we can't have discussions with Cuba.
We get refugees like the Fanjuls brothers that own Domino sugar and use government subsidies to bribe the US government.
Look up the Fanjuls brothers if you want to see one of the best scams ever.
I can travel to N Korea, Afganistan, Iran and China etc. But I can't travel to Cuba? The quickest way to help the Cuban people is for LOTS of us traveling there and spending Yankee Dollars! Let them have their Communist goverment (like China), but the Cuban people would rejoice at the opportunity to be able to earn a decent living. Those old exiles in Miami I bet alot of them HAD to leave because of their past as Battista supporters. That island nation could have been free decades ago if we had flown a fleet of B-52 bombers over the island and dumped tons and tons of Dollar bills on them. The only thing keeping the embargo going is politics and votes for the Grand Old Party!
YOU CAN TRAVEL TO CUBA ROBERT K-1019911!
N.Y. TIMES: New Ways to Visit Cuba — Legally - By MICHELLE HIGGINS- June 30, 2011
Thanks to policy changes by President Obama earlier this year designed to encourage more contact between Americans and citizens of the Communist-ruled island, the Treasury Department is once again granting so-called “people-to-people” licenses, which greatly expand travel opportunities for Cuba-bound visitors.
To be clear, it is still illegal for ordinary American vacationers to hop on a plane bound for Cuba, which has been under a United States economic embargo for nearly 50 years. True, plenty have dodged the restrictions — and continue to do so — by flying there from another country like Mexico or Canada (for Americans, traveling to Cuba is technically not illegal, but it might as well be since the United States prohibits its citizens from spending money in Cuba, with exceptions for students, journalists, Cuban-Americans and others with legal reasons to travel there). And while Washington has also expanded licensing for educational groups traveling to Cuba by loosening requirements, travelers joining an educational trip must still receive credit toward a degree.
But the new people-to-people measures make it easier for United States citizens who do not have special status as working journalists or scholars to visit Cuba legally, so long as they go with a licensed operator.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/travel/at-long-last-legal-trips-to-cuba.html
Wait, you can travel to North Korea? I thought the country was nearly impenetrable to foreigners.
Well, Robert can travel there if the North Koreans will let him in. Our government isn't stopping him. Robert is right. If Americans could travel to Cuba, the communist party would be dead within a year. There's no way the government could sustain itself with hundreds of thousands of (relatively) wealthy Americans flooding the country, not when the distance is so small.
you are right,we the americans have more restrictions than cubands at least they call theirself comunists here our goverment is a f..... piece of crap making life for amricans with families in Cuba a hell..but yes we can travel to China because ...THEY OWN US
Greattttttttttt........Remember during the Jimmy Carter years Castro emptied his prisons and nuthouses and sent 100, 000 nuts and criminals here! Do yoou remember? Look it up damnit. No more crapping on us. Hell with the activists. This is not in the best interest of a democracy. That's right, the majority rules. This is insanity!!
And they blended right in with all our nuts and criminals! hahaha (just kidding- I couldn't resist)
HAVANA TIMES : The (Non) Right of Cubans to Travel -Haroldo Dilla Alfonso-February 1, 2010-
The situation in Cuba concerning the freedom to travel is unfortunate. What I’m describing here is not for Cuban readers (who are all too familiar with this issue), but for those who are unaware of the matter and are forced to accept the information of those who close their eyes to this flagrant civil rights violation, a veritable wedge driven between the Cuban nation made up of both émigrés and those residing on the island.
Above all, travel for Cubans is not a right, but a legal privilege. It is a condition that can be granted or rescinded. It is a revocable concession by an unappealable power and is without a defined judicial framework.
In all cases, the departures of these people imply considerable fees that can end up in well excess of US $500, an immense sum for a population with exceedingly depressed wages that average $20 a month. In short, to leave, each person must be able to pay for a letter of invitation, a passport and an exit permit.
On top of this, once in the destination country, the traveler must make payments to the Cuban embassy in that country a sum that varies each month they remain in that country, which is a highly uncustomary practice. This sum fluctuates between $40 and $150 a month.
There are no laws or clearly written regulations covering these processes; rather, there are arbitrary and discretionary practices that mix starkly fascist reins of political control with mercurial motivations of the worst kind. In this way, the Cuban government denies a right that it alternately sells to those who can afford it.
But we must pay them, and pay them well, so they can continue reproducing their power with the same parasitic style they’ve displayed over the last fifty years.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=18972
It's a tragic thing, Humberto.
Here's hoping for change to the regime that has throttled the will of the Cuban people for so long. Reform is coming slowly, but I believe that with some momentum, we can break open one of the last bastions of totalitarian Communism.
Ya know, while the current regime in Cuba is pretty much your basic total failure, it's not as if they came to power by by overthrowing a shining light of democracy in Batista and his cronies (some of the worst of which were capitalists paying off batista for various 'resource rights'.)
While the Cubans in exile in Florida spend a lot of time yapping about how bad Castro is, I've never heard them articulate just what they would set up in his place. Worse, they show no indication of wanting to topple the regime. They seem pretty comfortable here, and spend a good amount of time negatively impacting US politics.
Robert k is absolutely correct. We can spend our tourist dollars in communist china, but not in cuba. Only politics is responsible for that. With american tourism, cubans would have outgrown(yes, I said outgrown) their fascist government long ago. It's just an old sore that they keep pulling the scab off, because castro literally became "the mouse that roared" and a thorn in the side of the us which we could not control.
Before any of this happens, won't they have to ease the restrictions on Cuban cigars, rum, etc.?
No. Why would they have to ease trade restrictions first?
Also, when you say "they" are you referring to Cuba or America? I wasn't aware Cuba has export restrictions, but this article is about Cuban reform, not the American embargo.
Hell yea, bring 'em ALL into the STATES! They can starve like the 99% American People are doing! Our corrupt Republicans better not let them in! They won't because they won't be able to vote! That's the only thing the Republicans want!
Vote STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC, the lives you save WILL be YOURS & your CHILDREN!!
Vote Democrat or die? Hysterical much?
TR,
Are you serious?! As if there have been no democratic administrations letting foreigners into the US.
Give me a political break, will ya!
....and puppies!! .... and... and .... unicorns!! and cute little baby seals! Vote for democrats to save them all!!! You won't have a job and your house will be foreclosed on and you'll be starving... but you will have saved your lives, you children's lives, the puppies, the unicorns and little baby seals!!!!
Sorry....incorrect. Cubans are considered Americans as soon as they land in the U.S. and get the same privileges as you or me. Including voting.
Living in South Florida in the early 1980s I remember the last time "exit visa" restrictions were lifted in Cuba.
The Cuban government flush and the US government says, "Oh goodie!" Why?
"They accuse the U.S. of trying to lure away doctors by letting them walk into any American consulate and request asylum."
Yeah, we're real monsters, huh?
My grandfather is a Cuban exile, quite hostile to Castro. When people wonder why we still have an embargo against Cuba when we deal normally with Russia and China, I tell them it's because my grandpa would kick the president's butt if he lifted it.
It is Bullshi%$ that the govt. can tell me where I can go, and I don't need a bunch of Miami cubans who would go to Cuba for a date telling me what I can or cannot do. It has been over 50 years now , get over it, you are not getting your land back or any of that other crap. and as for your grandfather, Cuba was the whorehouse of the Americas, run by the Mob and big fruit companies. dumb ass, revolutions don't happen when things are great, the racial complexion of Cuba changed when the haves (whites) left. I say your grandpa is a racist pimp thug
My grandfather was actually a chemical engineer who left Cuba when his company was seized by the government, but I forgive you for your hateful words toward a relative of mind who you only know one thing about.
FYI, I actually agree with your sentiment about the embargo, though.
@ Dan... Nice comment. Perhaps the Cubans can help you learn how to write. Rambling. Grammar is not your strength.
@ Dan, you might want to look at the Newsvine Code of Honor while you're brushing up on your grammar:
Newsvine Code of Honor
1. Adding a personal attack to an otherwise valuable comment or article serves only to render that contribution invalid in its entirety. Such content is subject to moderation.
The last time Cuba lifted travel restrictions they emptied out their mental hospitals and most dangerous prisoners and flotelled them towards Miami.
dewey,
Cuba did that and the US could have said "sorry, that ain't gonna work." but sadly we didn't because we were just plain stupid. The US didn't but could have demanded to verify who there people were and whether they had a less then stellar past. But being the goody-two-shoes we think we are, we just opened our arms to the nuts and criminals castro cleared out of his country. I hate to say it but castro was way smarter then we were in that deal.
How ironic that the grreatest privelege that the "Workers' Paradise" can offer is the right to leave!
It would be irony, if anyone seriously expected otherwise.
Remember Castro and the Marielistas? Cuba will issue exit visas to criminals, the insane, and welfare clients.
It's a Communist country. When you have no economic rights, being a criminal, lunatic, or welfare client doesn't look any worse than a desk job (and most of the desk workers moonlight as one of those things anyway).
Bob-1540553 First, is Marielitos, second, before you can enter the US or any other country your visa most be approved by the US or whatever country, not Cuba; what Cubans are demanding is the removal of a Cuban permit they most obtain and pay for, before they can leave the country, even if they already have an approved visa from the US or any other country they want to visit.
Cuba won't issue any permit (what you call exit visa) if Castro changes the rules, so don't worry, at least the US approves entering visas for those you mention, we won't receive any criminals, insane or welfare clients.
We've seen this before from Cuba. It was called the Mariel boat lift and America ended up with boats full of mental patients, criminals etc. Scary that Cuba tried this under Carter and then never again until Obama. I guess Cuba is just letting us know where they believe Obama ranks as President.
Jeff-1570172 Before you can enter the US or any other country your visa most be approved by the US or whatever country, not Cuba; what Cubans are demanding is the removal of a Cuban permit they most obtain and pay for, before they can leave the country, even if they already have an approved visa from the US or any other country they want to visit.
Cuba won't open the coastline for illegal immigration, so don't worry, at least the US approves entering visas for those you mention, we won't receive any criminals or mental patients.
America will always Welcome and help Legal immigrants to this great Country. If you come here illegally then you should be arrested and put to hard labor until you are Deported and never allowed to return.
It is very telling when a country has to lock its people in.
It is time that Cuba and America allow people to freely migrate once again.
As long as they don't all head here. It is also time to change our law that grants entry for any Cuban, that makes it to our shores....
We accept a certain number of legal immigrants every year from many countries. The US should stop giving the Cubans special treatment. They must be content, like sheep, to live under the thumb of castro and his army. If they truly want change it has to happen from within. Many may have to die in a revolution. Most of them seem content to be led around by the nose, from cradle to grave.
Now i´m in the mood for a good cuban stogie.
People just didn't learn their lesson from the Tower of Babel.....
If Cuban nationals are allowed to travel to the U.S., we're going to see a couple new major league baseball teams.
Great. Just what we need is more Spanish speaking indigents here in the U.S.
Not far in the future: Cuba becomes a US territory. Things will eventually soften up.
People like to bitch about immigrants, but when you look at the numbers, the vast majority of drains on society are white. Hate to break the news to you, but white majority population = white majority of welfare recipients, too.
For every hispanic person you think is taking a welfare check, there's ten trailer-trash people doing the same.
I too think the welfare cost of immigration is constantly overstated and overplayed, but I'm more curious about your first comment.
Cuba, a US territory? What possible combination of circumstances could lead to that?