All-time high migrant death rate along US-Mexico border: prevention in immigration reform?

[Judi Lynn]

3. Ilegal Cuban Migrants Get Immediate Benefits and Services: a Green Card in a Year

Ilegal Cuban Migrants Get Immediate Benefits and Services: a Green Card in a Year

Cuban migrants get preferential treatment from the U.S. government, and it does not matter if the migrant enters illegally or legally. Since 1959, Cubans have enjoyed a status not accorded to any other immigrant group over time. In this work, I examine both the preferences given to those Cubans entering the country illegally or legally, and discuss the types and reasons for the preferences.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Illegal Immigrants from Cuba: Preferential Treatment to get Green Card
Preferential Treatment of Cuban Migrants, Illegal and Legal

On Jan. 12, 2010, Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, made the Obama administration’s policy clear: “It is important to note that TPS (Temporary Protected Status) will apply only to those [Haitian] individuals who were in the United States as of January 12, 2010. Those who attempt to travel to the United States after January 12, 2010 will not be eligible for TPS and will be repatriated.”

“In FY 2008, there were 49,500 Cubans who became legal permanent residents( LPRs)--surpassed only by LPRs from Mexico, China, India and the Philippines. Yet very few Cubans have arrived in the United States through the legal avenues proscribed by the INA.”

(Ruth Ellen Wasem, “Cuban Migration to the U.S.: Policy and Trends” Congressional Research Service, June 2, 2009.

The reasons for the differences in the way Cubans are treated from other illegals is the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, Cuban-U.S. migrant agreements of 1994 and 1995, and law added in 1996. The 1966 Act permitted any Cuban who had been in the U.S. for a year and a day, regardless of how they got here, to have their status adjusted to that of a Legal Permanent Resident. Through the use of political power by U.S. Cubans, they have successfully defeated every attempt to repeal the 1966 Act and have been able to add further preferences for Cuban immigrants, whether legal or illegal. It is also a matter of class and resources; Cubans in the U.S. are able to pay thousands of dollars to have traffickers bring Cubans here illegally, to give them jobs, and help them get U.S. government benefits, while most illegals from other countries do not have the same resources or influence. Class and politics matter in immigrants matters, as Napolitano’s remarks vividly point out.

Rather than applying the laws that are set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act, the U.S. treats Cubans as refugees, thereby allowing temporary entrance into the U.S., and then under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, they can apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship under expediated process designed for them.

While discussion of migrants is an everyday event, the failure to fully discuss policies of the U.S. toward Cuban immigration is a void that needs to be corrected. While we believe the Cold War is over, there are many who want to keep it alive, if downsized, for political, partisan and policy reasons. On January 15, 2011, we have an example of this tendency in an article in the Wall Street Journal called, “New Prize in Cold War: Cuban Doctors” about the U.S. program to encourage defections of doctors serving in foreign countries. Not only is it an encouragement to lure illegal immigrants--the doctors do not have documents from Cuba allowing them to travel to the U.S.-- but it affects our foreign policy and diplomacy.

The U.S. takes Cuban doctors from third world nations where they are practicing medicine, thereby removing care givers from countries that badly needs them, but it also points up the punitive nature of our foreign policy toward the sovereign nation of Cuba, and an affront to the governments of the countries that host the doctors. But this is only one of a myriad number of policies that give preferential treatment to Cubans of all types, including illegal immigrants, and demonstrate to other nations how blatantly political --and grossly unfair-- the administration of our immigration policies are. Furthermore, in January of 2011, the U.S. announced it would be expelling Haitians who were here illegally, but had been given a temporary reprieve because of the earthquake in that nation. But Cubans who arrive here illegally are given parole ( temporary permission to enter the U.S.), and all types of benefits, as I will discuss later.

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If someone wants to immigrate to the U.S., they must have adequate resources to ensure they will not be a public charge, or they must have someone who does have resources to agree to sponsor the migrant . After five years, the LPR can apply for federal benefits. Legal and illegal immigrants from other countries, of course, cannot be a public charge and gain entrance to the U.S.

But these provisions do not apply to Cubans. As soon as a Cuban enters the U.S., legally or illegally, they are can get benefits if they meet the same requirements as U.S. citizens. They can get SSI for seven years, but was expanded to nine years during FY2009-2011. The maximum the person could get in 2008 was $ 637 a month for a single person, and $956 a month for a married couple. If they get SSI, they are also likely to get Medicaid from the state. If, however, the person does not receive SSI, and the person has children under 18, they are eligible for cash assistance, possibly a monthly payment (variable by state) and Medicaid. They are also eligible for refugee resettlement assistance that are designed to help migrants work toward self sufficiency . Childless females, single males, and couples who meet the requirements for programs but not otherwise eligible, can still qualify for other programs, including medical assistance. And there are other state programs that are separate from federal ones.

An interesting question is whether, with the cutbacks of services by the Federal and state governments, the preferential benefits given to Cubans will continue in the future. We know there is a tremendous outcry over illegal immigrants who are not getting the benefits Cubans get, and there is sure to eventually be questions asked as to why benefits that are being reduced or taken away for U.S. citizens would still be given to Cubans who are not even citizens. Some 4,000 Cubans, for example, receive disability payments and are not citizens, and cannot speak English.

More:
http://politicalanalysis2011.blogspot.com/