Apparently fearing the end of America’s so-called “wet foot, dry foot” asylum policy, Cubans have fled their communist homeland in droves in the last few weeks, with the Coast Guard witnessing a 117% increase of refugees in December.
Noah Rothman reports:
The Coast Guard is reporting an 117 percent spike in December in the number of Cubans fleeing the island nation by boat. On Monday alone, the Coast Guard returned 121 Cubans back to the custody of authorities in Havana. They were all intercepted at sea in seven separate incidents in just the past week.
The reason for the immigration spike: what many believe to be the inevitable end of the U.S. asylum policy for Cubans brought on by President Obama’s decision to restore diplomatic relations with the communist country.
“This is happening because there are rumors and fears flying throughout Cuba, even in Miami, that the immigration policy – the US immigration policy – that favors Cubans who arrive in the U.S. and set foot on U.S. soil – the so-called ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy, the Cuban Adjustment Act – is about to end,” NBC News’ Mark Potter reported Tuesday.
As Rothman points out, many in the leftist media can’t wait for the end of what they perceive as Cubans’ privileged asylum status (and, thus, the further empowerment of communist Castro regime):
Indeed, the commentary class can barely contain their desire to see Cuban refugees’ status as privileged political asylum-seekers revoked as part of the process of rehabilitating the Castro regime. “In Washington’s overhauled Cuba immigration policy, Cubans should have the same rights as other foreign-born immigrants — no more, no less,” Reuters op-ed contributor Susan Eckstein declared on Tuesday.
With President Obama’s insistence on restoring diplomatic relations, that special Cuban asylum protection will almost certainly come to an end, something the Castro regime is essentially forcing with its decision to waive exit visa requirements on Jan 14, “possibly precipitating a wave of refugees by the sea and the air.”
