The Cuban Connection

Join the Discussion "There's no telling how many others have died trying to cross.It lures people to great danger, and in many cases their death." DBA49     Related Resources • Daily Immi News • Making Borders Safe • Illegals Kidnapped • More Border Deaths • Helping Illegals  From Other Guides • Latino Culture Site • Economics Site  Elsewhere on the Web • Border Patrol • Border Project

52 Smuggled Cubans make it to the Florida shore.  Is the preferential treatment of dry foot Cubans fair? 

Wading in the shallow waters of Key Largo, 52 Cuban migrants were discovered nearly 10 hours after smugglers had dropped them off  on the island, some 50 miles south of Miami..

According to Border Patrol agents, the first group interviewed admitted to paying $8000 per person for the privilege of transportation from Cuba to the Florida Keys, thick with trees and ideal for slipping on to land temporarily unnoticed.

In Cuba, boats dot the shore, waiting to transport the people who pay hefty fees for often dangerous journeys with uncertain outcomes. The smugglers make it their business to be convincing and to keep the clients coming in.

Recently though, the perilous journey has been made far safer by well organized smugglers who have replaced rafts and makeshift boats with new, high speed transport. This brings into question the fairness of the "wet foot/dry foot" policy which provides that any Cuban who sets foot on dry US land has a right to a green card. Actually, Mexicans and nationals from a host of other countries have long cried "foul" on this discriminatory policy, accusing it of being fueled purely by anti-Castro sentiments. Whether or not those accusations are true, the great success of these new smugglers may require that the US find a way to safely deter aspiring Cuban migrants. 


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09/04/01