Tens
of thousands of Cubans have taken to the seas and embarked on perilous
journeys by land this year, headed to the United States. The new exodus,
the largest wave of Cuban migrants since the 1990s, is driven by
hopelessness at home and fear that the unique treatment Cuban immigrants
receive from Washington could end, now that diplomatic relations have
been restored.
With
one year left in office, the Obama administration appears disinclined
to scrap the policy, which gives virtually every Cuban who reaches
American soil the automatic right to settle in the United States and
apply for citizenship in a few years. Officials have long worried that
winding down the program could trigger a stampede of Cuban migrants, an
outcome that could mar President Obama’s legacy on Cuba.
Still,
it is time to do away with the policy, a Cold War relic that is
hindering the normalization of relations between Washington and Havana.
Congress should repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act,
a 1966 law that created an expedited mechanism to admit Cubans at a
time when the United States was seeking to undermine a Soviet ally.
Under a longstanding policy, called “Wet Foot, Dry Foot,” Cubans who reach the United States get to stay, and those interdicted at sea are returned home.
This
system has been a boon for human smugglers in Latin America and created
burdens for countries from Ecuador to Mexico through which they move.
It has also been used by Cuba as a pretext to impose strict controls on
its people and prevented the American government from conducting the
type of thorough security vetting that all other immigrants receive.
If
lawmakers don’t act, the Obama administration has several options. The
Cuban Adjustment Act gives the executive branch discretion to admit
Cubans who arrive on America’s shores, but it does not require that the
government do so. The Obama administration should negotiate a new
agreement with the Cuban government that makes orderly immigration the
norm. Cubans who arrive in the United States without authorization
should be sent back unless they show a credible fear of persecution. The
United States should also end a separate program that encourages Cuban medical professionals on government assignments abroad to defect to the United States.
In
exchange, the Cuban government should be required to accept the return
of Cubans who are subject to American deportation orders because they
have been convicted of crimes; roughly 34,500 Cubans in this category
remain in the United States because Havana has refused to issue them
travel documents. Cuban officials should also agree to rescind the travel restrictions imposed on medical workers this month, a measure that contravenes international human rights law.
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The
American policy is unpopular even among prominent dissidents who argue
that it has dimmed the prospect of political change. “We respect the
right of people to immigrate,” said José Daniel Ferrer, the leader of
the Patriotic Union of Cuba, the island’s largest dissident group. “But
as Cubans concerned about the future of our nation, we see with great
anguish that Cuba is emptying out.”
Even
with a change in policy, the American government could still continue
to admit a high number of Cuban immigrants who apply for visas from
Havana, giving priority to those who have legitimate persecution claims
and those who have family members in the United States.
The plight of thousands of Cubans who have been stuck in Costa Rica
for several weeks has brought into sharp focus the absurdity of
America’s policy. Those Cubans, whose journey began in Ecuador, were
stranded after Costa Rica disbanded a smuggling ring, and officials in
Nicaragua, Guatemala and Belize decided they would not allow them to continue north.
American
officials are at a loss to explain the special treatment for Cubans,
which stands in stark contrast to the harsh way the United States
typically treats Central Americans, including minors, many of whom are
fleeing for their lives.
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