The Migrant Realities of Laredo

By Ana Montanez

Ana is a 2016 Leland Fellow. She is currently working in the Capitol Hill office of Congressman Henry Cuellar.

Leland Fellows, named in honor of Congressman Mickey Leland, is a full-time legislative internship program for University of Houston undergraduate students. The program is coordinated by the Hobby Center for Public Policy.

There are two different migrant realities in Laredo, Texas, which is one of the U.S. principal ports of entry from Mexico: one for migrants from Central America and the southern portion of North America and another for Cuban migrants. While the realities may be different, they all share the same desire: to live a better life, far away from gang violence or far away from a communist regime.

The humanitarian crisis of the unaccompanied alien children from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico spiked in 2014 when more than 68,541 unaccompanied alien children (UAC) were interdicted along the southern border according to the U.S. Border Patrol. During the Fiscal Year of 2014, Laredo received 3,800 UACs and 3,591 family units.[1] In 2015, these numbers dropped 42 percent. During Fiscal Year 2016 (October 1, 2015- February 29, 2016), there was an increase of 33% of the number of UACs in comparison to the same period of time in 2015.[2]

With President Barack Obama’s announcement of the renewal of diplomatic relations with Cuba in 2014, the number of Cuban immigrants coming to the United States has increased. This is due in part because Cubans are afraid that this new approach could translate into a change in current Immigration laws and policies impacting Cubans.

Under agreements forged between the US and Cuba in the mid-90s any Cuban caught at sea is sent back to Cuba, however, any Cuban who reaches US land is paroled into the United States. This is commonly referred to as the “wet foot/dry foot” policy. Further, a 1966 law called the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) provides for a special procedure under which Cuban natives or citizens and their accompanying spouses and children may get a green card (permanent residence) if they are in the United States for more than a year. . In addition, Cubans once paroled into the United States are granted special federal financial assistance and benefits.

From January to March 2015, 9,900 Cubans entered the U.S., doubling the 4,746 who arrived during the same time period in 2014 reported by the Pew Research Center. The majority of Cubans who entered the country arrived through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Laredo Sector. In fiscal 2015, two-thirds (28,371) of all Cubans came through this sector, which is an 82% increase from the previous fiscal year.[3]

The “preferential” treatment received by Cuban migrants has created resentment among the citizens in Laredo. These citizens compare the treatment given to migrants and unaccompanied minors from Central America and Mexico, migrants who face detention and deportation, to the fast pass that Cubans have to the American system. In January, a group of U.S. veterans started a series of protests along Bridge I of Laredo, arguing that Cubans get more federal benefits than wounded veterans.

Congressman Henry Cuellar who represents the 28th congressional district of Texas, which includes the city of Laredo, has followed the Mexican, Central American and Cuban immigration crisis closely. Cuellar traveled last December to Costa Rica, where many Cubans were stuck after the Nicaraguan government denied them access to continue their trip through Central America and Mexico from where they would travel to the United States, their final destination.

Regarding the “preferential” treatment received by Cuban migrants, Congressman Cuellar has voiced his point of view, “Given the President’s change in policy with Cuba and the opening of diplomatic ties, I think it is appropriate to take a second look at our current immigration policies toward the Caribbean nation to bring them in line with our other immigration policies”.[4]

Congressman Cuellar believes that no group of migrants should be treated better than others, that’s why Congressman Cuellar along with Congressman Blake Farenthold (R-TX-27), introduced on March 23 the Correcting Unfair Benefits for Aliens Act. The CUBA Act would repeal the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows most Cubans to apply for legal residency status and bring Cuban’s in line with other migrants in their treatment for federal financial benefits.[5]

To continue securing the southern border and to mitigate the surge of Central American and Mexican migrants, Congressman Cuellar helped secured $750 million to support the Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle of Central America, as well as including $100 million to assist Mexico with international narcotics control and law enforcement intended to support border security along their southern border with Guatemala and Belize. Additionally to ensure humane treatment for migrants and unaccompanied children, Congressman Cuellar has asked for an increase in transparency at our nation’s immigration detention facilities. Especially on the nourishment and medical treatment that migrants receive. He has also obtained 55 new federal immigration judges to help reduce the nearly half-million backlog of immigration cases. Both of these provisions were included in the FY16 omnibus package.[6]

Whether one is immigrating from Mexico, Honduras or Cuba, the rules should be the same for everyone. The CUBA Act recently introduced by Congressmen Cuellar and Farenthold could end the special treatment that Cuban migrants receive. In the meantime other efforts promoted by Congressman Cuellar help to keep our immigration system accountable, avoiding backlog of immigration cases while assuring a fair treatment for every migrant and unaccompanied minor at any U.S. port of entry.

[1]  The Fiscal Year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.

[2] http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-border-unaccompanied-children/fy-2016

[3] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/10/cuban-immigration-to-u-s-surges-as-relations-warm/

[4] https://www.texastribune.org/2015/12/04/cuellar-time-end-cuban-immigration-policy/

[5] http://www.texastribune.org/2016/03/23/cuellar-and-farenthold-file-bill-repeal-cuban-adju/

[6] /news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399350

http://blog.chron.com/insidepolicy/2016/04/the-migrant-realities-of-laredo/