Obama Ends Preferential Cuban Immigration Policy

[ClydeR]

Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama is ending the longstanding "wet foot, dry foot" policy that allows Cubans who arrive in the United States without a visa to become permanent residents, the administration announced Thursday.

The move, which wasn't previously outlined and is likely one of the final foreign policy decisions of Obama's term, terminates a decades-long policy that many argued amounted to preferential treatment for a single group of migrants.
"By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries," Obama wrote in a statement Thursday.

More... (http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/12/politics/us-to-end-wet-foot-dry-foot-policy-for-cubans/index.html)

Good move or a bad move? The correct answer, which you are free to dispute if you don't mind being wrong, is good move.

[Tgo01]

Glad to see Obama acting like as big of a piece of shit as possible in his final days.

1/20/17! WOO!

[drauz]

Glad to see Obama acting like as big of a piece of shit as possible in his final days.

1/20/17! WOO!

I like it.

[Androidpk]

Glad to see Obama acting like as big of a piece of shit as possible in his final days.

1/20/17! WOO!

You're only saying that cause you love Cubans.

[Tenlaar]

Glad to see Obama acting like as big of a piece of shit as possible in his final days.

1/20/17! WOO!

So you think that immigrants should be able to come here illegally and then become citizens?

[drauz]

So you think that immigrants should be able to come here illegally and then become citizens?

They aren't immigrants, they are refugees.

My answer is no though. We have enough people already.

[Tgo01]

So you think that immigrants should be able to come here illegally and then become citizens?

From Cuba? Yes.

[drauz]

You're only saying that cause you love Cubans.

He wants his own Cuban cabana boy.

[Tenlaar]

From Cuba? Yes.

Why is it okay for Cubans to illegally come here but not Mexicans?

[Tgo01]

I probably wouldn't mind this move so much if it weren't obvious this is political payback because a lot of Cubans in Florida didn't support Hillary in lock-step like Democrats expected all minorities would.

[Tgo01]

Why is it okay for Cubans to illegally come here but not Mexicans?

Because Cubans are fleeing a brutal dictatorship that is clamping down on personal freedoms and they want to become US citizens.

Illegal aliens from Mexico want to come here for the economic benefit and have no desire to become US citizens, which is why you often see Mexican flags being waved around whenever they protest.

But you already knew all of that.

[Tenlaar]

Because Cubans are fleeing a brutal dictatorship that is clamping down on personal freedoms and they want to become US citizens.

As opposed to all of the other people in the world who have to flee from brutal conditions, like Mexican cartels cutting off their neighbors heads or African warlords marching thousands of people into mass graves at a time? Fuck all of them, but come on in Cubans?

[Tgo01]

Fuck all of them, but come on in Cubans?

"We can't solve the whole world's problems so why even try helping out at all?!"

You sure showed me, Tenlaar.

And no, fleeing cartels because the Mexican government is incompetent or corrupt is not the same as fleeing a brutal dictatorship.

South Korea has a similar policy towards North Koreans too but not for anyone else. I guess South Korea doesn't care about the rest of the dictatorships in the world either so why try at all?!

We can't cure ALL cancer so why even try curing some of it?!

[Androidpk]

And no, fleeing cartels because the Mexican government is incompetent or corrupt is not the same as fleeing a brutal dictatorship.

They're not fleeing an inept government, they're fleeing a brutal (far more than the Cuban regime) drug cartel.

[Aluvius]

Because Cubans are fleeing a brutal dictatorship that is clamping down on personal freedoms and they want to become US citizens.

Illegal aliens from Mexico want to come here for the economic benefit and have no desire to become US citizens, which is why you often see Mexican flags being waved around whenever they protest.

But you already knew all of that.

What you just described also applies to Syrian refugees or insert country name X refugees.


The truth is there's never been a good reason for the special immigration status of Cubans. Except of course, as you alluded to, the fact that they mostly voted for Republicans in past elections. Which you should hate .. re: your 9828 posts in this folder about particular groups of people voting for a political party only because that political party gives them stuff.

[Taernath]

The CAA was a 'fuck you' to Castro, now that he's gone and the country is starting to slightly open up, there's no reason for it.

[Tgo01]

They're not fleeing an inept government, they're fleeing a brutal (far more than the Cuban regime) drug cartel.

Most of them aren't. They come here for the economic benefit and send money back home. When the economy started going to shit a lot of them even went back home and the flow of people trying to cross into the US slowed down dramatically. If it was all just them fleeing the cartels then none of that would have happened.


What you just described also applies to Syrian refugees or insert country name X refugees.

We can't solve all of the world's problems so why try solving some of it?!


Except of course, as you alluded to, the fact that they mostly voted for Republicans in past elections.

Democrats have been in charge many times in the past and have never felt the need to do this before so this argument is kind of lame.


Which you should hate .. re: your 9828 posts in this folder about particular groups of people voting for a political party only because that political party gives them stuff.

What have Republicans given Cubans in exchange for their vote? It's more like Republicans are the conservatives of this country and Cubans for the most part tend to be more conservative, but they didn't fall for the "All Republicans are racist!" line of attack this election cycle so now they must be punished.

[Tgo01]

The CAA was a 'fuck you' to Castro, now that he's gone and the country is starting to slightly open up, there's no reason for it.

Fidel Castro has been dead for 2 months and hasn't been president for 9 years.

[Taernath]

Fidel Castro has been dead for 2 months and hasn't been president for 9 years.

If you're keeping score at home, Castro was in power for about 50 years. The CAA was enacted in 1964, shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis. This was a relic of a different time.

[Parkbandit]

I didn't agree with the CAA anyway, so this is a good thing.

I never understood why Cubans received preferential treatment on immigration vs. the rest of the world.

Now everyone is treated equally.

[Gelston]

It may have had a use in the past, but I don't think it should exist now. I think it should have been ended earlier.

[Jeril]

Seems to me it was probably done because it is something that Trump would do but now that Obama has done it Trump can't and Obama gets the credit.

[Parkbandit]

Seems to me it was probably done because it is something that Trump would do but now that Obama has done it Trump can't and Obama gets the credit.

At least he will have ONE successful thing on his legacy!

[Kembal]

One additional thing informing this: Cubans were coming to Mexico and then just coming up to the border. Close to 250,000 Cubans did it last year. There's barely any "wet foot" to speak of these days.

[Drazaan]

This was a long overdue change and an appropriate step that is consistent with Obama's policy approach towards Cuba for over two years now. It does not change or amend America's approach to generously providing for refugees with a legitimate claim to asylum.

Simultaneously, it is supportive of Trump's efforts to secure American borders and control immigration. Trump is on the record for supporting normalization of relationships with Cuba, the only thing I'm aware he has complained about is that America is not getting a good deal in the matter. He'll get a chance to work out plenty of deals with Cuba in a week if he so chooses.

[kutter]

There is one HUGE elephant in the room no one has mentioned yet. Wet foot/dry foot was put into place because during the Clinton administration the Cubans were not taking back large quantities of the people leaving the island. Wet foot/dry foot was a compromise that the US and Cuba agreed to so that anyone interdicted at sea received asylum screening and if they did not meet the refugee threshold then they were repatriated. Anyone that made it to land was immediately granted parolee status and allowed to stay, they were technically refugees but not really. So the question is, what happens if the Cubans go back to saying they are not taking back everyone interdicted at sea?

Most people that are even aware of this have an opinion but we need to think about the bigger picture. Wet foot/dry foot is a shitty compromise but it is a compromise. The Cubans hold the cards so we will see how this works out. As for those saying Cubans are conservative, that is really only true of the older hard line group, the younger Cubans tend to be more liberal in their mindsets,

[Allereli]

This was a long overdue change and an appropriate step that is consistent with Obama's policy approach towards Cuba for over two years now. It does not change or amend America's approach to generously providing for refugees with a legitimate claim to asylum.

Simultaneously, it is supportive of Trump's efforts to secure American borders and control immigration. Trump is on the record for supporting normalization of relationships with Cuba, the only thing I'm aware he has complained about is that America is not getting a good deal in the matter. He'll get a chance to work out plenty of deals with Cuba in a week if he so chooses.

Trump is on the record of saying and doing a lot of things that he completely disregards for whatever fits his agenda at the moment.

[Drazaan]

Trump is on the record of saying and doing a lot of things that he completely disregards for whatever fits his agenda at the moment.

I completely agree and I'm not entirely sure what this means as he creates policy. I'm trying to find an underlying foundation that guide his words, thoughts, and actions, but I'm not entirely sure what that is yet. It does not seem to be based in party politics or being pragmatic or being populist. He's pretty idiosyncratic.

[Allereli]

I completely agree and I'm not entirely sure what this means as he creates policy. I'm trying to find an underlying foundation that guide his words, thoughts, and actions, but I'm not entirely sure what that is yet. It does not seem to be based in party politics or being pragmatic or being populist. He's pretty idiosyncratic.

http://cdn.movieweb.com/img.news.tops/NEAAx9usk45XDE_1_b.jpg

[Parkbandit]

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnzzZOhWgAAFo6G.jpg

[Latrinsorm]

Most of them aren't. They come here for the economic benefit and send money back home. When the economy started going to shit a lot of them even went back home and the flow of people trying to cross into the US slowed down dramatically. If it was all just them fleeing the cartels then none of that would have happened.http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2017/01/13151343/FT_17.01.13_cubaEntry_FY05-16.png

Cuban immigration was cut in half from 07 to 09. I know you'll make up some reason why your clearly stated argument inarguably applying to Cubans too doesn't count, I'm only putting this here for people who are actually interested in the information. Please do us both a favor and just save your breath.

[kutter]

So apparently when I went to work last night I was informed that Cuba has already agreed to take everyone back, the process has not been formalized yet, at least as far as we know, but it is agreed upon in nature. We sent 71 back today under the old system that had been delayed for weather and there are no new ones waiting that I am aware of so we will have to see what happens.

[ClydeR]

So apparently when I went to work last night I was informed that Cuba has already agreed to take everyone back, the process has not been formalized yet, at least as far as we know, but it is agreed upon in nature. We sent 71 back today under the old system that had been delayed for weather and there are no new ones waiting that I am aware of so we will have to see what happens.

Will Marco Rubio's parents have to go back?