january 13, 2016
Cubans on the Rio Grande
How the U.S. can stop this rapidly growing illegal flow
WASHINGTON, DC — Last week Costa Rica wwas airlifting to El Salvador the first group of the estimated 8,000 U.S.-bound Cubans, who were stranded when Nicaragua closed its border to them. Once in El Salvador, the Cubans will be able to make their way through Mexico (which has promised them safe passage) to the Rio Grande, where they plan to take advantage of the "wet-foot/dry-foot" policy that gives U.S. residence to all Cuban illegal aliens.
The land route to the U.S. has become increasingly popular among Cubans, with the number crossing into South Texas in the fourth quarter of 2015 more than double the same period the year before.
Dan Cadman, a 30-year veteran of INS/ICE and a fellow with the Center, writes that to keep latest arrangement from sparking an even larger flow, the Cuban migrants must not be rewarded with U.S. residence: "The U.S. needs to take firm steps, both now and upon arrival, of any Cubans who have struggled northward as a result of the 'deal' that's been cut, to put an end to the charade, deny the Cubans the ability to make such a mockery of our laws and in the process ensure the trickle doesn't become a flood."
Read Cadman’s article at: http://cis.org/cadman/refusing-reward-illegal-cuban-arrivals-benefit-adjustment
Suggested U.S. actions that can limit the numbers of those entering this country and deter the exodus from Cuba:
• Those arriving at a port of entry and claiming asylum should not be paroled into the U.S. pending a "credible fear" hearing to determine whether their case should proceed;
• At the credible fear hearing, officers should weigh heavily in their decision that international and domestic law require that asylum be sought at the first opportunity, as opposed to travelling through multiple countries to reach the country of choice;
• Those who sneak across the border rather than present themselves at ports of entry should be held in custody through the entire removal hearing process, as the Cuban Adjustment Act, the basis of the wet-foot/dry-foot policy, does not kick in if the alien is held in custody;
• Those Cubans who do not receive asylum should be returned to Mexico or Costa Rica, since those countries facilitated their illegal entry; if they refuse to cooperate, U.S. aid should be suspended;
• The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) brokered this deal to undermine U.S. laws and should also be sanctioned; the U.S. should suspend contracts with and withhold the U.S. share of U.N. funding that goes to the IOM;
• Congress should immediately amend the CAA so Cuban illegal immigrants no longer receive preferential treatment.
It is up to the United States to shut down this flow across its southern border. No other country or entity is going to look after U.S. interests. The Guatemalan foreign minister, Carlos Raúl Morales, said, "We are finishing the work of the smugglers, and of course it will incentivize the arrival of more illegals, but in solidarity we could not ignore the drama in Costa Rica."
