THE CUBAN ADJUSTMENT ACT and IMMIGRATION POLICIES
Law number 89, known as the Cuban Adjustment act, was adopted by the US congress on the 2nd of November of 1966, under the Lyndon Johnson administration. It's main provisions was to change the legal status of the Cuban immigrants; to treat them as political refugees and to grant them political asylum; and as such provide them immediately with privileges that no other group enjoys, such as, automatic permanent residence status - all without review and without the usual waiting time.
This privileged law affords the Cuban illegal immigrant the opportunity, to work legally, to govt. welfare, to unemployment benefits, and to free medical care, things that the average immigrant by no means is entitled to.
As former Cuban ambassador Ricardo Alarcon has repeatedly stated, immigration has been one of the oldest weapons used by the US in its dirty war against Cuba. It started when the US welcomed with open arms Batista's scum, the corruptors of yesterday's Cuba; when in 1959 it let in all that thrash; thrash that eventually landed in Miami as Fidel Castro and the people flushed the toilet. Not all can be put in this category but if you look closely whose running the political show in Miami most of them had ties to Batista or are offspring's of Batista followers. They made Miami what it is today: one of the most corrupt cities in the US. A city which was in the forefront of drug trafficking and money laundering. It is no mere coincidence that drug trafficking came full blown in the mid and late sixties - a few years after the Batista scum had taken root in that city. All those banks in Miami did not spring up from the sales of bananas. They sprung up from the importation of cocaine from south America most notably from Central America. It should be noted that with all the hype Miami is one of the poorest cities in the United States. This a product of the immense corrupt political machine set up in Miami by the so called Cuban exiles.
Some of the most notable spawns of the old Batista crowd include Florida congressman Lincoln Diaz Balart - an extreme right winger - whose father was a member of Batista's congress, a congress that was utterly corrupt and which served under a brutal dictator who had taken power in a bloody coup. Another important spawn of Batista followers is the congresswoman from Miami Ileana Ros-Letinen; as her parents also served under the Batista regime.
To understand the reasons for the preferential treatment afforded to Cubans by this law one must take a look at different factors and questions.
First of all, no matter how many times you have heard or seen on the news, about new boat people escaping from the regime, fleeing the island to be free, the truth of the matter is that behind all the melodramatics played out by the press, the main reason for Cuban immigration, the boat people, is economics. It has very little to do with politics and very much to do with the economy and living standards in Cuba. They leave because of the harsh economic conditions that exist on the island, mainly due to the collapse of the Socialist bloc - in which Cuba lost 85% of it's trade - and mainly because of the US embargo, which forces the island to purchase some international goods and medicine sometimes at 3 or 4 times the going rate. It must be stressed that the embargo, which severely curtails foreign investment in the island, not only increases the economic woes of the island increases the number of boat people substantially as well.
If you think back the real influx of Cuban boat people started after the island lost 85% of it's trading partners after the fall of the Socialist bloc, around 1990. How many boat people did you hear about before this period?
Approximately 4 thousand illegal immigrants arrive in the US daily, almost three times more than arrive illegally each year from Cuba. How often do you see their plight on the news? Very little. As an example, on May 2001 60 boat people from the Dominican Republic perished - only 2 survived. What did the press do? It gave minimal coverage to this tragic event. While giving more press coverage to six boat people arriving from Cuba. In matter of fact this news was highlighted a few days on the Hispanic press. As bad as the right wing biased reactionary American press is, the Hispanic Press controlled by the old Batistianos is even worse. The length of the news that the Cuban boat people are afforded is considerably more than given to other boat people In essence what it's really about is to entice Cubans to leave illegally so that we can be see it on the 6 o'clock news.
It has nothing to do with humanity, for this law is really evil in intent; for if you think about it, as the result of this diabolical law, many have, over the years, risked and lost their lives.
I know, first hand because I had a cousin who wanted to leave Cuba for strictly economic reasons; it had nothing to do with politics. Although his father - my uncle - a long time legal US resident, asked the US to grant his son a visa, it was denied repeatedly. After being frustrated for a long time, what did he do? Since he knew fully well that if he landed on US shores he would get immediate immigrant status with all the perks, he stole a boat. What happened? He was caught by the Cuban coast guard and sent to prison for a few months. Guess what the INS did thru the US Interest Section in Havana? After it had repeatedly denied him a visa to migrate legally to the US, it was now willing to offer him a visa. There was one catch. INS would be willing to give him a visa if he signed a statement declaring himself a political prisoner!! My cousin who at least had some degree of integrity never signed it. By the way what does this little incident tell you about political prisoners? But that is another story to be told.
Although the boat people's leaving has nothing to do with politics, it has plenty to do with it on this end, for the US right wing along with the Cuban-American Miami right wing has built a business around the Cuban issue. Without anti Cuban propaganda what would they do? All the right wing US politicians from the racist Jesse Helms to the disturbed Miami congressman Lincoln Diaz Balart have to keep their multimillion-dollar business running. They make good money out of all of this. It's good business practice. All the perks and their million of dollars pet projects like TV and Radio Marti would go by the wayside. There are a lot of people in Miami and Washington benefiting from the plight of the Cuban people. TV and Radio Marti, which transmits propaganda against the Cuban government, which according to international accords is illegal and which according to a recent study by a congressional panel is watched and listen to by only approximately 5% of the Cuban population, nevertheless is approved by Washington year after year. It does not take much logic to realize these two projects are very profitable for the exile and right wing elements in Miami and in Washington, as these two stations have cost the taxpayers over 420 million dollars. The more than 20 million dollar a year budget makes a lot of people happy as well as wealthier. The only thing is that it comes out of our pockets, not theirs, as taxpayers pay the bills.
It is all designed to make Cuba look bad and to keep the show running. I don't know how many of you know that during the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations there were U.S - Cuba immigration accords, stipulating that the US was going to grant 20,000 visas annually. How many visas were given by the US in a 10-year time span during this period? An average of less than 1000 visas annually were authorized by the US.
Why? When you think about it, the reason was very simple. To get people in Cuba frustrated so that they did one of two things: firstly to push them into rebelling against the govt., take up arms or secondly to entice them to leave the island illegally again so that we can see on the news. For Washington this seemed like a win-win situation. Either way the end game was to make Cuba look bad before the world.
For a period of time this tactic was working, as the pressure was building up, the number of Cuban boat people increased dramatically. In '94-95 period it got especially bad with people hijacking boats and with the hijackers killing some people in the process. In 1994, for example a young Cuban naval officer, captain Reyes was murdered by a thug as he tried to prevent a boat from being stolen. The assassin then took the boat to Miami. What happened in Miami. Was he arrested? Of course not, in Miami he was received as hero. By the way the both the Hispanic and American press lied about the whole incident making it look like the young naval officer had defected; actually stating that he was in Miami; this was proved to be false as he was found dead floating on the coast of Cuba.
In the summer of '94 at the height of the exodus Miami radio stations started to propagate rumors over the radio waves directed at Cuba, that the US Interest Section in Havana was going to issue visas to anyone who wanted to leave the island. In hearing these announcements, about 300-400 individuals gathered in force to apply for visas. As it became apparent to them that they weren't going to have it their way, they became frustrated and started breaking hotel and shop windows in the surrounding area. This was quickly extinguished when the people, the workers of the area came out in force to not only repudiate these actions but in defense of their revolution. Don't be fooled by those that say that it was state security that put down these acts of vandalism. It was the people the Cuban people themselves who stopped the vandals. They are the ones that came out from their homes and businesses and brought the actions of agitators to a complete halt.
This is not second hand information I'm giving you. In matter of fact I was in the vicinity doing some shopping near the Malecon in Havana and saw the whole thing with my own eyes. It was astonishing to see the swift and convincing response of the people. What was more astonishing was seeing Fidel on the scene a few minutes after the ruckus had begun. Fidel's life was in danger being there but this is the kind of person he is. By he way reports have it that he is always driving his security people crazy as he is always eager to mingle with the people; and in the process often breaking security protocol and making security agents nervous.
By '95 everything was going as Washington was hoping it would, the chaos and the exodus was wonderful for all those conspirators and enemies of Cuba. What went wrong? Fidel in his infinite wisdom, made a very strategic counter move. He told the Cuban people that if the US was going to play dirty with it's immigration laws, enticing illegal immigration and causing hijackings and death, that Cuba would not pose an obstacle for those who wanted to leave. He issued the statement that the state would not impede or hinder any who wanted to leave, that the coast guard would not stop nor apprehend any boat people in their attempt to leave Cuba.
As a result people started to build makeshift rafts and boats and started to leave. Now as Washington's schemes started to blow up in it's face, as the number of boat people rose, and as it was now facing the possibilities of thousands of boat people arriving on the coast of Florida - by the way most of them were the worse of Cuba - Washington started to backtrack. The conspirators in Washington began to think seriously about the economic consequences and impact the exodus would have on Florida and Miami specially. On this issue this tiny island and its leader had once again forced Washington's hand.
In response to this the US agreed to new immigration accords, Washington agreed that any Cuban caught by the US would be expatriated back to Cuba and agreed to authorized 20 thousand visas annually. It must be added these accords were made over the objections of the angry of the Cuban exile.
This new accord alleviated the problem somewhat but it did not go far enough, as it still entices Cubans to leave the island illegally. For although any Cuban now caught by the US coastguard is returned to Cuba, it still grants Cubans permanent residency if they touch US soil. So although the numbers have gone down drastically, Cubans still take the gamble, risk their lives because they know if they touch US soil they will have all the benefits afforded to them.
Lastly, for all those who doubt that US immigration laws as they pertain to Cuba is just another dirty trick on the part of Washington, ponder on the following: if the US has an immigration law and a mechanism that allow Cubans to leave the island legally why then does the US have another policy enticing people to leave illegally? You either allow legal immigration or you don't. You cannot have it both ways. But remember the plight of the boat people is the cheapest and the most effective propaganda tool that the extreme right wing in Washington and the reactionary Miami Cuban mob has.