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Vol. 81/No. 6 February 13, 2017
Washington ends ‘wet-foot, dry-foot’ Cuba program
BY EMMA JOHNSON
During President Barack Obama’s last few days in office Washington and
Havana reached an agreement that ended two unique U.S. immigration
policies aimed at undermining the Cuban Revolution: the “wet-foot,
dry-foot” policy that guaranteed U.S. residency to any Cuban who set
foot on U.S. soil and the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program,
which encouraged Cuban doctors and nurses to move to the U.S.
The scrapping of the programs is “an important step forward in improving
bilateral relations,” Cuba’s revolutionary government said in a Jan. 12
statement. This removes what Havana viewed as an important obstacle to
normalizing relations, a process begun with the decision announced by
Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro in December 2014 to re-establish
diplomatic relations.
At the same time, it signals a shift in tactics by the U.S. rulers, who
continue to seek to overturn the revolution and reimpose capitalist rule
on the island. U.S. imperialism has never forgiven working people in
Cuba for overturning the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista
in 1959 and then taking power out of the hands of the capitalist class.
The new policy makes Cubans who enter the U.S. without a visa subject to
deportation. For the last two decades under “wet-foot, dry-foot,” those
intercepted at sea were sent back to Cuba, but those who succeeded in
stepping on U.S. soil could stay.
Under previous agreements, Washington agreed to grant at least 20,000
immigrant visas a year to Cubans. But this was never done. In 2015 only
6,300 Cubans were given visas, in 2016 just 9,100.
Instead, Washington granted “dry-foot” entry to 40,000 Cubans in 2015
and 54,000 in 2016. Many of those wishing to leave risked their lives on
flimsy rafts or dangerous trips across Central America.
The implementation of these policies “provoked migratory crises,
hijackings of airplanes and boats, and the commission of crimes like
trafficking in emigrants, in persons, migratory fraud, and the use of
violence,” the Cuban government said.
The Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program was just as insidious.
Under this program, the U.S. government lured Cuban health care workers
working abroad — mostly internationalist volunteers providing free
medical care around the world — with the prospect of getting rich in the
U.S. While the overwhelming majority are impervious to the imperialist
bribes, Washington says several thousand were admitted to the U.S. since
the program began.
In its Jan. 12 statement Havana called on the U.S. Congress to also
repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. This act grants Cubans
permanent residency after one year in the U.S. Those who get a green
card are also immediately eligible for government cash assistance and
health coverage, unlike immigrants from the rest of the world. Thousands
of Cubans on tourist visas take advantage of this law each year.
U.S. imperialism’s tactics are changing, but not its goal. The U.S.
embargo on Cuba remains in place and Washington still refuses to return
the Guantánamo Naval Base to Cuban control.
Scrapping the “wet-foot, dry-foot” program will lead to more Cubans
pressing for change in their own country, Ben Rhodes, who was Obama’s
deputy national security adviser, told the New York Times.
Long-time enemy of the Cuban Revolution, Jorge Mas, chairman of the
Cuban American National Foundation, agreed.
“This will significantly increase pressure on the regime by depriving
them of an escape valve” to let discontented Cubans leave, Mas told the
Courier-Tribune Jan. 12.
But the capitalists always underestimate the working class. Cuba’s
workers and farmers have stood up to imperialist pressure for nearly six
decades without giving up a single one of their principles. There is no
reason to think that they can’t meet the new challenges posed by
Washington’s shift in tactics.
Since re-establishing diplomatic relations, a dozen bilateral agreements
on cooperation ranging from air travel and health to the environment and
the fight against drug trafficking have been signed, and a dozen more
are in the pipeline. There are no indications that President Donald
Trump plans to reverse this course.
A high-level Cuban business delegation visited the U.S. in January and
met with port officials in Houston, New Orleans and in Florida.
Officials of Port Everglades intended to sign a nonbinding memorandum of
understanding with the National Port Administration of Cuba about future
cooperation. They backed off when Florida Gov. Rick Scott threatened to
cut off state funding to any port that entered into an agreement with Cuba.
Related articles:
‘Revolution made health care a right,’ Cuban doctors say
Regional summit calls for end to US embargo of Cuba
Cuban women wanted to participate in a genuine revolution
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