Wednesday, August 3, 2016

"Cuba Nos Une": Ending the Cuban Adjustment Act by Carmen M. Cusack, Nova Southeastern University, January 1, 2016, Journal of Law and Social Deviance, 11, 1-53, 2016

Abstract: Because opportunity costs and expenditures continue to take their toll on the American economy, and prospects for growth within Cuba, many Cuban Americans are calling for an end to benefits and special treatment. Pundits believe that the American government should end special benefits for Cubans, which may help to reduce incentives for Cubans crossing Latin American and Mexican borders heading for the United States at a rate of more than 13,000 each year, which does not exceed the 20,000 visas annually reserved for Cubans. These exoduses are closely linked to lucrative, yet dangerous, human trafficking operations, meanwhile each report of refugees at sea that instigates a search by the U.S. Coast Guard costs any from a couple of thousand dollars per hour for helicopter searches and tens of thousands of dollars for the use of a small plane (i.e. C130) to search. Ending benefits not only reduces Cubans’ interest in violating American immigration policies by working with human traffickers, it could allow Americans an opportunity appropriately to allocate resources to drug interdiction and prevention of terrorism at the border rather than focusing on droves of Cubans demanding benefits and residency. At this time in Cuban-American political history, American policies need not encourage international violations that negate Cuba’s sovereignty, but rather, the United States should reform immigration policies to benefit both nations and their people. This article discusses these five issues in detail. Section Three discusses money wasted on persecuting the Cuban Five, and political missteps created by the United States in response to the Cuban Five. Section Four outlines special citizenship processes applicable only to Cubans entering the United States; and Section Five explains entitlements to benefits possessed by Cuban Americans. Section Six explains relationships between human trafficking, Cubans, and homeland security. Section Seven concludes that for the foregoing reasons, now is the time to discontinue special treatment of Cuban refugees in the United States, end wasteful spending practices, and invest in strategies that benefit relations between the United States and Cuba.

KJ

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2016/08/immigration-article-of-the-day-cuba-nos-une-ending-the-cuban-adjustment-act-by-carmen-m-cusack-.html