That is encouraging to hear.
Years ago, I had a fair amount of contact with Cuban immigrants and found the same thing you did, but that was 25 years ago and these folks were fleeing communism. I hope that your experience is not an aberration.
It seems that the Cuban population of the Tampa area haven't changed that much. The Cubans I know are very proud that they are American citizens, and are very much against illegal invaders crashing the gates.