Times Have Changed, So Must Policy: revisiting wet-foot dry-foot

Times Have Changed, So Must Policy: revisiting wet-foot dry-foot
by Grace Wong

The Trump Administration is a cloud of unknown, but in the next four years, wet–foot dry-foot is expected to be modified, if not all together taken away. Since the 1960s, the U.S. government has favored immigration via The Adjustment Act, that allows Cubans an unfair advantage to U.S. citizenship.

The policy stands that if a Cuban citizen makes it to U.S. soil (with dry feet) they are eligible to become U.S. citizens after a year of living in country. We do not allow this naturalization for any other nationality, and there is no longer any reason for this policy to stand. While originally LBJ enacted The Adjustment Act to provide refuge for political refugees under Castro’s regime at the height of the Cold War, times have changes and so must policies.

In 2015 President Obama made amends with the Cuban government and lifted the trade embargo with the small island nation, just ninety miles south of the southernmost-point of the U.S. We are openly trading and traveling with Cuba, and the threat of Castro’s regime has diminished, and the type of Cubans immigrating to the U.S. has changed such that our policies are no longer working as intended. LBJ wanted to protect white-collar Cubans from political persecution by Castro, and throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s primarily well-educated Cubans fleeing from Castro came to the U.S. becoming well-paid, successful members of society. The population fleeing from Cuba to the U.S. unlike any of the other refugee populations that the U.S. was taking in; those populations had a collection of diverse class, race, and education attainment and thus were a more diffuse group. Now, however, the Cuban immigrant population mirrors that of its worldly counterparts in sending blue-collar migrants to pursue the American Dream in the U.S., much like neighboring immigrants from South and Central America and the Caribbean as well as around the world. Every year 1M Mexican, 3.5M Caribbean, 2.9M Central American, and 2.6M South American immigrants look for work in the U.S., while many look to fill jobs in the agriculture and service industries, well-educated Latin American and Caribbean immigrants contribute to their nation’s brain drain. Cuba is no different, and should not be treated differently.

Cuban immigration, of course, should still be allowed, but the double-standard afforded the Cuba and not neighboring nations is simply unfair. Further, the ninety-mile boat ride between Key West and Cuba is dangerous given the poor condition of boats, that resemble inflatable rafts, and lives are put at risk unnecessarily because of a dangerous policy. Should Cubans immigrate the U.S. like all other nationalities, they could fly to the U.S. or take a safer boat, and apply for citizenship or a green card, like everyone else. The system works for every other nation; Cuba should be no exception. This policy is also unnecessarily costly for the U.S. Coast Guard to maintain. If a Cuban immigrant is found on the water by U.S. Coast Guard, (with wet feet), they are sent to a third-party location like Guantanamo Bay and then returned to Cuba. To monitor waters and return Cubans, the U.S. Coast Guard wastes time and resources that could be better spent keeping U.S. waters safe.

68% of all Cuban-Americans live in Florida, and some counties’ are comprised of 55% Cuban-Americans; thus, Florida’s electorate is significantly impacted by Cuban-Americans. In the recent U.S. presidential election, Florida was a key vote for Republican nominee and President-Elect Donald Trump, and in the coming years he will have to tread lightly on the immigration issue, to remain popular in Florida, however, I believe the policy will change. The Trump campaign ran on strong anti-immigration and nativist rhetoric, and while his plans to build a wall have been amended to include ‘some fencing’ it clear that this lax immigration policy, will probably be amended.

Cubans feel it too; since President Obama opened up trade with Cuba, there has been a mass exodus of Cubans to the U.S., and that is only expected to continue as policy changes. But as times change, policy must too, which is why the Adjustment Act and wet-foot dry-foot must be revisited and changed to reflect our changing times.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Americans#U.S._states_with_largest_Cuban_populations 
• https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/immigration
• https://publications.iadb.org/bitstream/handle/11319/5509/Labor%20Migration%20in%20Latin%20America%20and%20the%20Caribbean%3A%20A%20Look%20at%20new%20trends%20and%20Policies.pdf?sequence=1