A reader asked if there
are any Cuba provisions in the immigration bill that passed the Senate today
(see link in this article from Politico).
There are none, which is
is a little surprising because last January Senator Rubio said it was going to
be “impossible” to debate a comprehensive immigration bill “and not talk about
whether or not there should be changes in the Cuban Adjustment Act.”
But on Tuesday the
Senator noted that Cuba had not come up at all in the immigration debate. Asked by the St. Petersburg Times how he would propose
to change the treatment of Cuban nationals in U.S. immigration law, he said it
is “something I need to study more carefully.”
When
Senator Rubio and others were making their statements early in the year, I
supposed that they wanted to do what former Rep. David Rivera had proposed,
which was to punish Cubans who would travel back to Cuba before acquiring
citizenship, i.e. in their first five or six years after arriving (see here
and here). We’ll see if Rep. Diaz-Balart puts a Cuba
provision into the House bill.
Senator
Rubio on Tuesday repeated his old canard about his own constituents, saying
that it is “very difficult to justify someone’s status as an exile and refugee
when a year and a half after they get here they are flying back to that country
over and over again.”
There’s
no such thing as “exile” status in U.S. immigration law. As for refugees and asylees, the only categories
of immigration where admission to the United States depends on stating a well
founded fear of persecution, they account for only about ten percent of Cuban
immigrants.
But
those facts don’t stop Senator Rubio from inferring that his constituents are
hypocrites. He repeatedly accuses them
of violating a claim they never made.
When
it comes to actual refugees, he does have a point. But what would he do with a new type of
refugee, the family of the late dissident leader Oswaldo Paya, who recently
came to the United States?
At
first blush it appeared that they had pulled up stakes and abandoned Cuba for
good.
But
Rosa Maria Paya, Oswaldo’s daughter, said that isn’t so.
“We arrived as
political refugees, but we are here on a temporary basis,” she said in Miami. She says there is “no restriction of any
kind” on their returning to Cuba. “We
could do it. We have our Cuban passports
valid for two years.”
First, welcome to
America.
Now let’s figure out
what this means for Senator Rubio and the problem he is wrestling with.
The liberalization of
Cuba’s policy regarding its own citizens’ travel abroad has resulted in many dissidents traveling
abroad
to speak their mind, gather support, learn, and just see the world.
The Paya family takes
things to a new level by having residences in both places and intending to move
back and forth as they see fit. (And,
incidentally, being eligible for a whole set of U.S. government benefits
especially during their first year: health care, food assistance, education and
job training assistance, and more.)
“Thus the opposition
has just brought about the possibility of entering and leaving Cuba by season,
keeping homes in both countries and letting the time pass and the Castro
brothers die, and then seeing if the future in Cuba is brighter or darker. To say it in Cuban: to dodge the storm, any
storm. Meantime, with residency assured
thanks to the Cuban Adjustment Act, the young ones start a new life and build a
future in a country that has suddenly converted itself into a sort of foster
home for children and a social services agency for those of advanced age. All this without a need to make any
commitment to the nation that serves as the country of adoption for purposes of
benefits, but not for purposes of making a citizenship commitment.”
Harsh, but true.
Back to Senator
Rubio.
The Payas say they are
going to continue their political activism, and surely Senator Rubio wouldn’t
want to deny them the opportunity to return to Cuba to do that. So he could propose that we return to the Bush
era of restricting Cuban-American travel, but this time with a new exemption
for the Payas and others who engage in the right kind of political activity in
Cuba. There could be new monitoring
mechanisms and licensing requirements to prevent abuse. Maybe we could hire officials from Cuba who used
to evaulate applications for exit permits, examine letters of invitation,
investigate and interview potential travelers, etc. They have experience administering travel
controls, and lots of time on their hands.
Or, more seriously, he
could come to terms with the changes in his own neighborhood.
The Cuban American
community is not an exile community anymore; those who consider themselves
exiles are now only one part of the community.
With the freedom afforded by new policies of both governments, it turns
out that many Cubans like to go back and forth.
And a growing number – the Payas being the latest example – like having
a home on both sides. Exile is a state
of mind, and it is none of U.S. government’s business to impose it on Cuban
immigrants through our immigration policy.
On the other hand, Senator
Rubio’s speeches on freedom and limited government are really terrific.
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