Should Cubans who are intercepted at sea while trying to reach the United States be sent back to Cuba?
General Reference (not clearly pro or con)
The U.S. Department of State, in a website section entitled "Cuba: U.S.-Cuba Relations," last updated Jan. 20, 2001, explained:
"In
the 1980s... U.S.-Cuban relations shifted to include immigration...
when a migration crisis unfolded. In 1980... the Cuban government
allowed 125,000 Cubans to illegally depart for the United States from
the port of Mariel, an incident known as the 'Mariel boatlift.' In
1984, the United States and Cuba negotiated an agreement to resume
normal immigration, and to return to Cuba those persons who had arrived
during the boatlift who were 'excludable' under U.S. law.
The
1990s witnessed another migration crisis that set back U.S.-Cuban
relations... in August 1994, the Cuban Government responded by allowing
some 30,000 Cubans to set sail for the United States, many in unsafe
boats and rafts, which resulted in a number of deaths at sea. The two
countries in September 1994 and May 1995 signed migration accords with
the goal of cooperating to ensure safe, legal, and orderly migration."
Should Cubans who are intercepted at sea while trying to reach the United States be sent back to Cuba?
PRO (yes)
CON (no)
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), in a section entitled "United States Coast Guard Migrant Interdiction Operations" on its website (accessed on Sep. 28, 2007), stated:
"U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) migrant
interdiction operations support the U.S. Government policy to ensure
safe, orderly and legal migration. Toward that end, the USCG operates
throughout the Caribbean, Southeastern U.S. States and Puerto Rico to
detect, deter and stop attempts to travel illegally to the United
States by sea. Executive Order 12807 is the specific U.S. authority for
the USCG to intercept and return undocumented migrants to their country
of origin.
Undocumented maritime migration and smuggling
threatens the United States from all sides... While economics continue
to be the primary factor behind illegal migration, escaping political
oppression and military conflict are also significant. Currently, the
Coast Guard’s major mass migration threats are from Cuba and Haiti.
With
increasing focus on border and transportation security... the need for
effective migrant interdiction is being reinforced... our effort
remains consistent..."
Bill Clinton, JD, 42nd President of the United States, in an Aug. 19, 1994 press conference at the White House announcing his reversal of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, stated:
"It is my belief that the American
people ... do not want to see another Mariel boat lift. We have gone
through [this] once. We had 120,000 people sent to this country as a
deliberate attempt -not because they themselves initially wanted to
flee- they were encouraged to flee; they were pushed out. We had jails
open, we had mental hospitals open, all in an attempt to export all the
problems of Cuba to the United States. We tried it that way once. It
was wrong then and it's wrong now, and I'm not going to let it happen
again... The people leaving Cuba will not be permitted to come to the
United States... [they] will be apprehended and treated like others."
Lawton Chiles, Jr., JD, late 41st Governor of the State of Florida, as quoted in a Sep. 11, 1994 New York Times article titled "Gov. Chiles Seizes the Refugee Issue," stated:
"This new policy [1995 Cuban Migration
Accords to repatriate Cuban refugees at sea] lessens the threat of
dangerous, illegal immigration from Cuba, if its provisions are honored
by Cuba and the United States, but we will remain vigilant in our
resolve to protect Florida from paying the price for the nation's
immigration problems... I think it's pretty fortunate that I went
through Mariel 1. It didn't take me long to recognize Mariel 2... The
only thing I can tell you is if there were 30,000 more rafters in
Florida, I'd hate to be me running for office.
Janet Reno, LLD, U.S. Attorney General at the time of the quote, in an Aug. 18, 1994 press release titled "Attorney's General Statement on Cuban Influx," offered the following remarks:
"To divert the Cuban people from seeking democratic change,
the government of Cuba has resorted to an unconscionable tactic
of letting people risk their lives by leaving in flimsy vessels
through the treacherous waters of the Florida Straits. Many people have lost their lives in such crossings. We urge
the people of Cuba to remain home and not to fall for this
callous maneuver. I want to work with all concerned including the Cuban
American community to make sure the message goes out to Cubans
that putting a boat or raft to sea means putting life and limb at
risk... To prevent this from happening again, the Coast
Guard has mounted an aggressive public information campaign so
people know that vessels... may be stopped and boarded and may be seized. Individuals who violate
U.S. law will be prosecuted in appropriate circumstances."
Carl McGill, MA, Professor of Criminal Justice at Phoenix University, in an Aug. 5, 2000 NoCastro.com interview entitled "Candidate Carl McGill Responds to Questions on Cuba," stated:
"Clinton's
policy to return 'rafters' to Cuba is like returning a slave in
pre-Civil War America back to his enslaver. This would have condoned
civil rights violations and slavery, as returning a 'rafter' to Cuba
condones human rights violations and communism. Clinton's decision on
this issue is wrong."
The Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC), a Cuban advocacy website, in the section entitled "Talking Points, On the Cuban Adjustment Plan" on its website (accessed Sep. 24, 2007), stated:
"The
United States has continued to encourage illegal migration by not
discontinuing the practice of paroling all Cuban immigrants who reach
its territory in irregular ways... This is done under the 'dry feet,
wet feet' policy - which irresponsibly provides that if any illegal
Cuban immigrant reaches US territory, they would be accepted in the
United States but if intercepted at sea, they are as a rule - though
not always - returned to Cuba.
Cuba has repeatedly stated... its strong rejection of this selective
policy when repatriating illegal immigrants. The practice of not
returning to Cuba all immigrants rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard
Service at sea and transferring them to the Naval Base in Guantánamo is
an invitation to illegal departures."
Saul Landau, PhD, Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy at American University, in an Aug. 30, 2003 CounterPunch article entitled "The Terminator and Prop 187 - Schwarzenegger and Cuban Migration," wrote:
"...reality
gets lost in political drama when it comes to Cuba. By 1993-4, when the
Cuban exodus to Florida took on tsunami proportions, President Clinton
invented a 'wet foot/dry foot' formula, under which Cubans who managed
to get a toe in U.S. soil obtained rapid parole status, a quick shot at
a green card and fast track to citizenship. Clinton used the 1966 Cuban
Adjustment Act a Cold War relic to justify his 'solution.'
Later,
as he negotiated a migration accord with Castro, Clinton promised but
failed to get rid of the Act... We need a terminator for current
immigration policy. Not Arnold [Schwarzenegger], but a political savant
that addresses immigration in terms of fairness and justice not
protection for Cubans and persecution of Haitians and Mexicans."
Humberto Fontova, MA, author, in a Jan. 10, 2006 Human Events article entitled "Desperate Cuban Escapees Return to Castro," wrote:
"Statistically
speaking, escaping Cuba is deadlier than escaping East Germany used to
be. More Cubans die in the attempt. Well, thanks to a policy put into
place by president Clinton, (and shamefully left in place) some of the
lucky few who make it are now sent back."
