Forty
years ago, the 1965 amendments to the
Immigration and Nationality Act
began the
transformation of America. It opened the floodgates
of mass immigration by allowing virtually unlimited
family petitioning from
around the world.
But,
following closely on its heels, the 1966
Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) was to have an even more
concentrated regional impact on
South Florida.
And that
impact continues unabated today – indeed, perhaps more
now than ever.
The 1965 Immigration Act in effect signaled the start of
an endless family petitioning race to see which country
could pack more of its people into America the fastest. Mexico is currently
winning.
But the 1966 Cuban Adjustment
Act created such a wide-open "come ‘on down"
system of special preference that newly-arrived Cubans
didn’t even have to worry about the family petitioning
system. Whether or not they already have family members
already in America, the CAA virtually guarantees
eligible newly-arrived Cubans a brand-new "green
card" within a year of
setting foot in America.
Like it or not, the special treatment of Cuban nationals
has been a constant of U.S. immigration policy since
1966.
Among
other things on VDARE.COM, I’ve been following the
ongoing scandal of the non-implementation of summary
expedited removal authority granted in 1996 by
Congress – through
Section 235(b) of the
Immigration Act.
In
2002, I was on the case of the
small enforcement victory when the Bush
Administration expanded these summary removal provisions
to include aliens arriving "by sea."
But
what I didn’t notice right away in 2002 was that
Cubans need not worry about the Section 235(b)
process at all, since their special exemption was
built right into the federal regulation the whole time.
Ironically, I posted the
details of the Cuban exemptions from "by sea"
expedited removal right here on VDARE.com:
It just goes to show—there’s
always much more to any piece of
immigration legislation or
federal regulation than meets the eye!
Meanwhile down in South
Florida, a VDARE.com reader reports (via e-mail on
September 29) on the consequences of policy-driven Cuban
immigration and non-deportation exceptions.
The VDARE.com reader writes:
"We
have officially been overrun down here.
"Cubans
are streaming in at huge levels, while our manpower and
assets have been slashed. We are approaching 450 new
welfare recipient Cubans who have arrived in the last 2
WEEKS. It's time to call for a 'broken arrow,' like that
Vietnam movie."
(According to the
Wikipedia definition, "Broken
arrow" is
"a code word used to request close
air support from all available aircraft when a
ground position is in extreme danger of being overrun by
enemy troops. This was last used in the
Vietnam War, and is a plot element in movies such as
We Were Soldiers.")
The reader also attached a
powerful proposed Letter to the Editor arguing
for the abolition of the Cuban Refugee Act as
"an outdated relic of the
cold war":
"The never-ending wave of Cuban 'refugees' on South Florida
has taken its toll on Florida residents in many
forms."The most notable,
school overcrowding, more tax money spent for
English as a Second Language classes, massive health
care costs, housing assistance and the impact on the
criminal justice system."
"According to Coast Guard Key West, from June 1st
to September 18, 2005, approximately 750 Cuban
'refugees' have landed in the Keys. The majority of
these landings occur on uninhabited rocks such as the
Dry Tortugas or the Marquesas Keys."
"In the
areas affected by
Hurricane Katrina, we see American citizens who are
desperate to receive food, water, shelter and other
basic human needs."In the Florida Keys, in a cruel twist
of fate, we see undocumented Cuban nationals who have
illegally entered into the U.S., and now will be
receiving taxpayer-funded refugee benefits – the same
type of benefits that our
fellow citizens in New Orleans and Mississippi so
desperately need."
"To add
insult to injury, late-night-arriving Cuban refugees who
can’t be driven to Miami, are put up at the Holiday Inn,
at taxpayer expense in the form of a
contract with a Miami based
church group.
"As the U.S. government struggles to
meet the challenge [of
hurricane relief], the residents of the
Florida Keys struggle to make sense with the constant
surge of Cuban "refugees" and the taxpayer-funded
benefits extended to them in the case of "dry
feet"."Refugee benefits include immediate placement on
Medicaid, housing assistance, lump sum cash assistance,
food stamps, Federal grants, Supplemental Social
Security (age eligible) and a myriad of other taxpayer
funded social services."A list of refugee benefits can
be found at the U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement website.
". . .
the definition of a Refugee [Section
101(a)(42)(A) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act] is 'a person
who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted
for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership
in a particular social group, or political opinion, is
outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to
or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of
the protection of that country.'"
"These
Cubans do not meet the above definition.
"The
proof of this is the fact that tens of thousands of
Cuban nationals living in South Florida, green card
holders, routinely apply for and receive a 29-day travel
permit from the
U.S. State Department which allowed them to travel
to Cuba."
"These
are the same 'refugees' who were supposedly fleeing for
their lives from Cuba. Then they want to travel back and
forth but still retain the status and benefits of a
'refugee'." The number of these supposed 'refugees' who
would return to and from Cuba got so high, that
President Bush had to enact legislation limiting these
return trips to once every 3 years."
"Cubans
are economically disadvantaged migrants."
Cubans are coming to the U.S. because there is no work
in Cuba, as in most of
Latin America."
"Simply
put, legitimate 'refugees' are people who are fleeing
from their home countries for fear of death and
persecution." Legitimate refugees do not travel back and
forth."
The VDARE.com reader also points
out that Florida state representative
David Rivera (R-Miami) introduced a bill in the
legislature in 2004 that "would punish Cuban Refugees
who traveled back to Cuba by cutting off access to
Medicaid, Food stamps and housing assistance."
Rivera’s bill was predictably
condemned by the Treason Lobby’s fellow-travelers in
Cuba as "a half-baked scheme."
Final thought: given the magnet of
immigration benefit fraud and the accompanying
corruption of the refugee and asylum system, why
would a newly-minted
lawful permanent resident (former refugee or asylee)
immediately travel back to the country from which he or
she supposedly fled because of "persecution"?
Answer: to arrange for more
family members to come to the United States, of
course!—under the family-chain immigrant petitioning
made possible by the 1965 Immigration Act.
Abolition of the special
preferences of the Cuban Adjustment Act.
Revocation of status and
benefits to 'refugees' who travel back-and-forth to
their native countries.
Ideas whose time has come!
Juan Mann [send him
email] is a lawyer and the proprietor of
DeportAliens.com.
