Posted on 01/12/2017 5:23:45 PM PST by Enlightened1
President Barack Obama announced Thursday he is ending a longstanding immigration policy that allows any Cuban who makes it to U.S. soil to stay and become a legal resident.
The repeal of the "wet foot, dry foot" policy is effective immediately. The decision follows months of negotiations focused in part on getting Cuba to agree to take back people who had arrived in the U.S.
"Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities," Obama said in a statement. "By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries. The Cuban government has agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals who have been ordered removed, just as it has been accepting the return of migrants interdicted at sea."
The Cuban government praised the move. In a statement read on state television, it called the signing of the agreement "an important step in advancing relations" between the U.S. and Cuba that "aims to guarantee normal, safe and ordered migration."
Obama is using an administrative rule change to end the policy. Donald Trump could undo that rule after becoming president next week. He has criticized Obama's moves to improve relations with Cuba. But ending a policy that has allowed hundreds of thousands of people to come to the United States without a visa also aligns with Trump's commitment to tough immigration policies.
President Bill Clinton created "wet foot, dry foot" policy in 1995 as a revision of a more liberal immigration policy that allowed Cubans caught at sea to come to the United States become legal residents in a year.
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I think it’s safe to say anyone Obama wants here I want gone, and anyone he wants gone I want here.
This obviously partisan maneuver by Obama gives Trump the unintended precedent to suspend all immigration.
And of course this is payback for Cubans helping Trump win FL.
Sending them back means a life worse than a slave. Prison or forced labor. Worse decision ever. I pity those who are sent back.
Does Obama have a Visa to be here? If he does, I’m sure it expired a long time ago. Send his a$$ back to Kenya...NOW!
He ‘s just making room for embedding islamic refugees in South Miami.
Refugees who love America and are appreciative are to be discouraged. Illegals and “refugees” get sanctuary cities and refusals to enforce immigration laws, but that’s reserved only for those who hate America.
Too damn many are Republicans-that’s Obama’s problem with them.
Cubans have been long-time critics of Castro and and were strong in their support of Trump. That makes them unwelcome in Obama’s America, unlike border jumpers.
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