The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act grants Cubans a unique place in U.S. Immigration Law and Policy by declaring that all those who arrive in the United States are accepted as political refugees, and are eligible to become legal permanent residents after one year (Marc R.). It was created to offer protection to Cubans escaping oppression from their Communist government. As might be expected, this law is always the debate of Cubans who think about coming to America seeking freedom and a better life. For many Cubans to reach American territory is all a dream, mostly because of the chances of attaining a better economic situation for themselves and their families. A lot of them also pursue to reunite with their families in the United States after many years of separation. Some others are opponents of the Castro regime. Because they don’t have freedom of speech and can see their lives threatened if they speak out against the government, seek for more political freedom and a democratic form of government, in a land of capitalism where there are fewer restrictions and more opportunities.
By so doing, this Law exempts Cubans from those aspects of the Immigration and Naturalization Act that render inadmissible and deportable all other aliens arriving in the United States illegally — surreptitiously, outside a designated port of entry, or without valid documentation such as a passport or entry visa — and who cannot sustain an individualized claim of asylum or well-founded fear of persecution. De facto, the Act turns each and every Cuban reaching the U.S. shore into a meritorious asylee. This is treatment afforded people of absolutely no other
Fidel Castro entered Havana, Cuba and took his place as Prime Minister in January of 1959, just after the fall of the Batista regime. Within days, many of the Cuban upper class began exiting the island, wary of losing their socioeconomic status and possibly their lives (Leonard 13). Castro’s radical new policies appealed to most of the suppressed lower class seeking change, but the middle sector “became disillusioned with their new leader” and soon comprised the majority of the Cuban refugees in Miami, Florida (Leonard 3). Beginning in December 1960 and ending with the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, over 14,000 of those refugees wou...
The entire struggle that Helg is alluding to in her book is founded within the racial hierarchies and racial ideologies that were formed early on in Cuba’s history. Several aspects of Cuban society (as discussed by Helg) served to foster the racism and the antagonistic attitudes that whites had towards the Afro-Cubans. An acute example of the inequality that the blacks were made to suffer was the denial of citizenship after 1886. According to Helg, Afro-Cubans were denied the titles of "Don" and "Doña" on their identity cards. This was a blatant form of discrimination against because it prevented blacks from being considered as first class citizens, "…despite the fact that they were full taxpayers". (25) What Helg means by this is that even though the Afro-Cubans were participating in the economic spectrum of Cuba, they were still denied access into the political and social arenas.
The U.S. had to have some sort of control and a permanent existence after withdrawing their military from Cuba. The Cubans feel that this amendment has made it possible for the U.S. to cause trouble or intervene anytime they want.
The United States was interested in attaining Cuba for economic purposes and eventually they did. This created chaos between Cuban elites/whites and Americans. Americans brought back the Cubans that had been in exile in .America to rule the country. Their policies discriminated against the Afro-Cubans. In a way all Cubans were discriminated against by the Americans.
Economically, Cubans “enjoyed one of the one of the highest standards of living in Latin America” (34). This is predominately due to the fact that Cuba exported half its sugar and two-thirds of it total exports into the U.S., and imported three-fourths of their total imports from the U.S. Although the U.S. (35). Although the U.S. boosted the Cuban economy, Cubans resented that they were still living at an economic level lower than Americans. The average Cuban income was one- third the average of Mississippi, the poorest state in the U.S. in th...
The history of immigration between Cuba and the United States is distinct from other cultural and socio-cultural groups. Unlike other Hispanic immigrants, Cubans are welcome in the United States under the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.
The Cubans had been oppressed and under rule by the Spanish for hundreds of years, and had not had their freedom for generations. In the year of 1895, the Cubans were terribly misgoverned, and demanded independence. However, their cry for freedom was also attributed to the Wilson Gorman Act. This act restricted sugar imports to America and greatly endangered the lives of Cuban citizens, whose economy revolved around sugar. This devastating act forced the Cuban people to suffer extreme poverty, or to die as patriots for the chance of freedom.
“What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, freedom is to the soul of man” (Brainy Quotes). Light is essential to the eyes, love is what makes the heart beat, and freedom is the hope of man kind; all of which are essential to the happiness of humanity. Having to live without these rights is a difficult way of living. For example, Cubans have suffered time after time in pursuit of their freedom, but sadly they never accomplish their goal. They live in fear of their broken government, but never stop fighting for freedom. In the early 20th century, Cuba was a democracy. From 1940 to 1944 Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban politician, was Cuba’s president. In 1952 he decided to run again, but when it was apparent he’d lose, Batista seized power before the election took place. The citizens were outraged causing them to turn against their flawed democracy that was brought upon by the election. As a result, Fidel Castro, a communist revolutionary political man, began to plot Batista’s downfall. The Cuban Revolution, also known as Castro’s Revolution, began on July 26, 1952, and ended January, 1, 1959. After Batista, Cuba’s former president, fled the country, Castro took complete control and turned Cuba into a communist country. The Revolution brought upon: many deaths, censored news and publicity, and no freedom of speech. Throughout the years Castro stayed in power, but due to health issues originating on July 31, 2006, he had to step down. After Castro returned, he took control of Cuba up until February 19, 2008. He then abdicated his place as dictator and handed down his position to his brother, Raul Castro.
The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing number of anti-American developments during the height of the cold war, including the “expropriation of United States-owned properties on the island… [and] the Soviet Union [agreeing] to purchase sugar from Cuba and to supply Cuba with crude oil” (Hass 1998, 37). Bad sentiments continued to pile up as Cuba imposed restrictions on the United States Embassy and especially when, after the United States “officially broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba, and travel by United States citizens to Cuba was forbidden ... Castro openly proclaimed his revolution to be ‘socialist’” (Hass 1998, 38). The day after this, the Bay of Pigs invasion occurred, but it failed in its job to topple Castro (Hass 1998, 38). Left with no diplomatic options and a failed military attempt, the United States decided that the only way to end Castro’s socialist regime was to sever all ties, and from 1961 to 1996, a series of acts were passed prohibiting the majority of trade and interaction with Cuba. (Hass 1998, 38).
Recommendations of the US Commission on Immigration Reform, and Favoritism for Cubans. 20 Oct. 2000, http://www.fairus.org.
better education, better living condition, more jobs, equality of the social classes and a new era for the country of Cuba. with time, the people began to get disappointed with the government since, over the years, the country took a turn and Castro 's ruling became a dictatorship. Castro started to implement measures to the people of Cuba by making the things that were once given for free, cost causing discontent in the people. The government also restricted business developments and the people now had to ask for special permission (which was not always granted) to open a very small business which often did not last long. Cubans were not allowed to in any way express their discontent towards the government since Fidel also censored and restricted the freedom of expression of the Cuban people. this has also caused major immigrations from the island to the united states and other countries causing problems due to the many, many incoming immigrants. in the year of 1960 to 1962, Cuban parents sent their children (approximately fourteen hundred) to live in the united states due to fear of them being indoctrinated by the Cuban government. This was known as “Operation Peter Pan”. For the rest of the people still in Cuba, life was and still is not easy. The everyday necessities are not always available and their technology is not that advanced. in fact, it is
Between April and October of 1980, over 125,000 people fled to the United States from Cuba. This massive exodus became known as the “Mariel boatlift.” The Mariel boatlift was the third-wave of emigration from Cuba since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. The Mariel exodus was also the largest. The simple answer to why the boatlift began is to say that the Cuban people were fleeing communist oppression. The simple answer is not incorrect; however, it is incomplete. There were a plentitude of factors which contributed to the Mariel boatlift’s occurrence. These factors date back to the decay of U.S.-Cuba relations when Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, and expanded as the result of the Cuban recession of 1979 and 1980 and disenchantment with the revolution. To add, the Mariel boatlift left a serious impact on the United States as the flood of emigrants continued over the five month period. Not only did the boatlift lead to the loss of Carter’s 1980 election campaign, it also exposed major issues in Fidel Castro’s regime.
For years Cuba not only has been fighting for freedom, also several domestic issues are being part of the island’s national history. Human rights, prostitution; and poverty are part of the most relevant domestic issues that Cuba is facing until now dates. While the government has the primary responsibility and is particularly accountable for the full execution of the human rights inherent to all human beings, Cuba is part of many countries around the world where human rights are violate on a daily basis. As reported on the Country Reports on Human Rights for year 2013; Cuba is a country where the government organized mobs to assault and disperse those who sought to gather peacefully (Country Reports of Human Rights), the society in Cuba live without guarantee of basic individual freedoms of press, religion, association, speech, etc. Cuba count with a political system of abusive laws, corrupt institutions, and with a criminal code that allows the state to imprison individuals even before they committed a crime on the suspicion that they might commit one in the future. This is the Cuba’s “dangerousness” law, this repressive law categorize those who do not have the same ideas as the government or contradict socialist norms; as a potential threat or “dangerous”. The number of political prisoners increase every year, they are subject to criminal prosecution and they don’t have any guarantees since public hearings are conduct by incompetent and biased tribunals. Like Ramon Velasquez case, who was condemn to three years in prison in January 2007, after a “march of dignity” across Cuba to call for respect of human rights and freedom for political prisoners (Imprisoned for “Dangerousness” in Cuba). Unfortunately these type of detentions a...
Just like other immigrating Latino groups, Cubans share the same stereotypes when they are categorized as criminals, violent and others as well as having to face barriers for employment, housing and economics. However, most of the discrimination that Cuban Americans face is due to their ties to their home country. For example, most Cubans are stereotyped as extremists who despise Fidel Castro. The main push factor for Cuban immigrants was the regime of Castro in their home country. In contrast, other Latino immigrants are mainly pushed out of their country because of economic reasons. Therefore, while Cuban immigrants are seen as extremists or anti-Castro activists, most other Latino immigrants are merely seen as immigrants who come to “take jobs”. As mentioned, Cubans are not categorized as immigrants who come to the United States in hopes for a better economic life, they are seen as political refugees who are in search of better political conditions. This is one of the main differences between Cubans and other Latinos, because of this, Cubans are thought to be more prosperous than other Latino groups. However, this is a faulty stereotype because, although some Cuban Americans are better off economically than most other Latino groups, the majority of them still face countless amounts of
USA companies will be allowed to compete in Cuba market. In addition, international companies will be free to operate in Cuba without being excluded in the USA market. Finally, Cubin population will enjoy the benefit of international trade and Cuban immigrants in the USA will be allowed to visit and assist financially their family’s members and to improve their social life.