WILL A PROPOSED BILL END SPECIAL IMMIGRATION BENEFITS FOR CUBANS?

A bill that would end the so-called “wet-foot, dry foot” U.S. immigration policy for Cubans was filed in Congress last week. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a DINO from Laredo, and Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold of Corpus Christi filed the Correcting Unfair Benefits for Aliens (or CUBA) act, which is a particularly mean name in my opinion.

MORE: Cuban Immigrants Use Social Media, Not Coyotes, When Journeying to U.S.

This is the moment Cubans have been dreading ever since relations between the U.S. and Cuba normalized last year. Young Cubans have been fleeing their country in larger numbers than usual in the past year due to a lack of economic prospects. A huge portion of those immigrants has been entering the U.S., not through Florida, but through Texas. At least 44,000 Cuban immigrants entered the U.S. through a southern border in FY2015, which ended in September, compared to 17,466 in FY2014. Forty percent of those, or 18,000, crossed into the Laredo area last fiscal year, a 66 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, according the Pew Research Center. This explains why two South Texas congressmen filed this bill.

Currently, Cubans benefit from the 1995 revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that says any Cuban entering the U.S. undocumented, who has at least one foot on dry land, can stay and immediately begin receiving federal benefits, such as food stamps and Medicaid. A year after arriving, Cuban immigrants can apply for permanent residency and eventually U.S. citizenship. A report in the New York Times last year discussed “tensions simmering” among South Texans who witnessed the disparity between the way Cubans are treated at the border and Central Americans fleeing violence. It’s an uncomfortable discussion for the Latino community to have, but one that is now being forced by two representatives from Texas.

The proposed CUBA Act is meant to repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act now that President Barack Obama has restored relations with Cuba to ensure that Cubans are held to the same immigration standards as citizens of other countries. Here’s a thought: instead of holding Cubans to the same immigration standards as citizens of other countries, why not hold others to the same immigration standards as Cubans?   

Cuban Americans are an incredible case study in how prosperous immigrants can be when they are welcomed into the United States and given a network within which to work toward success. During Fidel Castro’s Cuba, U.S. banks loans for Cuban exiles that had no credit or collateral in this country. With that startup capital, their neighborhoods and communities were able to develop robust economic and political systems to support the success of newer Cuban immigrants. Their descendants had a fast track to join the American elite.

PLUS: Fidel Castro Slams Barack Obama on Cuba Visit

Why, in one generation, two Cuban Americans rose up to become viable candidates for president of the United States. The same cannot be said for any other Latin American immigrant in this country, what with the whole building a wall to keep them out and all. I, for one, will be watching the progress of this bill with great curiosity to see whether it succeeds and, if so, what this means for Cubans in the growing Latino immigration struggle.