EDITORIAL DEL “SUN SENTINEL”: ELIMINACIÓN DE LA LEY DE AJUSTE CUBANO.
¿ES NECESARIA HOY LA LEY DE AJUSTE CUBANO?
Como las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y Cuba comienzan a descongelarse, una cosa ha quedado muy clara:
La Ley de Ajuste Cubano, originalmente aprobada en 1966 y prácticamente intacta desde entonces, ha sobrevivido a su utilidad y necesidad.
El mundo era un lugar diferente cuando esta ley se aprobó para dar estatus legal a los exiliados cubanos que huyeron de Fidel Castro. Permite a los cubanos convertirse en residentes legales de Estados Unidos sólo un año después de poner el pie aquí, un privilegio dado a ningún otro grupo de inmigrantes.
También es un privilegio que ha sido propicio para el abuso, como reveló la serie de investigación del Sun Sentinel, realizada por los reporteros Sally Kestin, Megan O’Matz y John Maines.
Nuestros reporteros han documentado una enorme cantidad de delitos cometidos por inmigrantes cubanos que vienen aquí no para huir de la persecución, sino para robar a los vendedores, compañías de seguros, bancos, compañías de tarjetas de crédito y el Medicare. Entonces ellos huyen de vuelta a Cuba, donde pueden evitar la justicia debido a nuestra carencia de relaciones diplomáticas.
Más recientemente hemos descubierto que las personas que nunca han puesto un pie en Cuba, pero reclaman tener padre o madre de origen cubano, pueden emigrar aquí.
Idealmente, los veteranos e influyentes pesos pesados de la delegación congresional de la Florida -como la representante Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, republicana por Miami, o el senador Marco Rubio- podrían tomar la iniciativa para iniciar cambios en la Ley de Ajuste Cubano. Ellos son, después de todo, las voces que se escuchan cuando el Congreso discute sobre Cuba. Pero Ros-Lehtinen y Rubio todavía tienen que mostrar liderazgo sobre una ley que saben es difícil de defender.
En cambio, ha llegado un nuevo miembro de la delegación, novato en su primer año congresional, el representante Carlos Curbelo, republicano de Miami, para redactar una proyecto legislativo que cambiaría la Ley de Ajuste Cubano.
Curbelo, nativo de Miami e hijo de exiliados cubanos, merece elogios por tratar de hacer algo acerca de los abusos documentados. Él está proponiendo legislación -aún se está escribiendo- que impida a los recién llegados viajar libremente a Cuba hasta que se conviertan en ciudadanos estadounidenses. Lo más importante: su propuesta requeriría que los cubanos que deseen entrar bajo la Ley de Ajuste Cubano tengan que dar fe de que son refugiados políticos.
Esa es la buena noticia.
La mala noticia es que la propuesta de Curbelo es similar a una presentada en el 2011 por el entonces congresista David Rivera, también republicano de Miami. La propuesta, con Ros-Lehtinen entre los patrocinadores, habría anulado la residencia legal de cualquier cubano que regresara a la isla antes de convertirse en ciudadano estadounidense.
Ese proyecto de ley murió en el comité antes de ser llevado al pleno de la Cámara. Curbelo espera que su proyecto de ley tenga un destino diferente.
“Cuando usted habla con otros miembros del Congreso acerca de los abusos de la Ley de Ajuste Cubano, todo el mundo acepta que existen”, dijo al Sun Sentinel, Roy Schultheis, asistente del equipo de Curbelo.
“Todos sabemos que el dinero (robado en Estados Unidos) se envía a Cuba y enriquece el régimen de Castro”, añadió. “Eso no es lo que queremos que suceda”.
Una vez más, Curbelo merece crédito por tratar de abordar el problema. Pero su proyecto de ley sería difícil de hacer cumplir. Y habría dificultades para investigar si un cubano realmente escapó del país debido a la persecución política.
Es el momento adecuado para que alguien de nuestra delegación congresional dé un paso adelante y hable de la eliminación de la Ley de Ajuste Cubano por completo. Es tiempo de pensar en que el tratamiento a los inmigrantes cubanos debe ser igual al que damos a los inmigrantes de otras naciones. Los haitianos, en particular, se enfrentan a muchos de los mismos problemas que los cubanos y tienen una tarea mucho más difícil para obtener el estatus legal aquí.
En el mundo actual, muchos cubanos huyen de las condiciones económicas horribles del país con la esperanza de una mayor oportunidad aquí. Esa es la esperanza de los inmigrantes de todo el mundo que quieren venir a Estados Unidos de América.
“Estamos tratando de hacer más estricta (la Ley de Ajuste Cubano) para asegurar que sólo las víctimas de la opresión en Cuba puedan aprovecharla”, dijo Curbelo en declaraciones facilitadas por su oficina.
Una buena idea. Una mejor es dejar de considerar los cambios parciales a la Ley de Ajuste Cubano y decidir si en realidad hace falta o no.
La justicia debe ser la meta de la inmigración. La eliminación de la Ley de Ajuste Cubano sería un buen comienzo.
Florida’s “Sun Sentinel”/EDITORIAL/CafeFuerteTransl./InternetPhotos/thecubanhistory.com
The Cuban History, HOLLYWOOD.
-Cuba Hoy-
Arnoldo Varona, Editor.
CUBA PHOTOS.
FLORIDA’S SUN SENTINEL EDITORIAL: END OF THE THE CUBAN ADJUSTMENT ACT.
Is Cuban Adjustment Act needed today?
By Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
The U.S. welcomes thousands of Cubans each year as presumed refugees fleeing political repression, no questions asked. Yet many exploit the special treatment they receive by shuttling back and forth to the island that is allegedly persecuting them.
Now a Miami congressman wants to end that with legislation that would prevent new arrivals from freely traveling back to Cuba until they become U.S. citizens.
If adopted, the revisions would pose the most dramatic alterations to the Cuban Adjustment Act in nearly 50 years.
U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, the son of Cuban exiles, is crafting a proposal that would require Cubans seeking entry under the act to attest that they are political refugees. Those who return to the island would face consequences: quite likely the loss of their legal status.
“We are aware of abuses of the Cuban Adjustment Act and are looking to tighten it to assure that only those facing oppression in Cuba can take advantage,” Curbelo told the Sun Sentinel in a statement provided by his office.
The act was adopted in 1966 to give legal standing to thousands of Cuban exiles who’d fled Fidel Castro. Cubans can enter the country just by reaching U.S. soil and become legal residents in only one year, far faster than most other immigrant groups.
A yearlong Sun Sentinel investigation published in January documented how the act has aided criminals from Cuba in plundering billions from American taxpayers and businesses. The newspaper found that millions of dollars made its way back to Cuba and the state-controlled economy.
“There’s a crime element to this that we need to eradicate,” Curbelo’s chief of staff, Roy Schultheis, said in outlining the framework of the bill, which is in the very early stages of the legislative process. “We all know that money goes back to Cuba and enriches the Castro regime. That’s not what we want to happen.”
Any effort to modify the Cuban Adjustment Act likely will face a rocky road. The Obama Administration, which is working to restore openness between the U.S. and Cuba, has said it’s committed to upholding the law.
Schultheis said Curbelo is working with other members of Congress to gain some consensus and endorsement.
Pressure to change the law has been building. Long-time exiles and powerful Cuban-American politicians in South Florida — historic protectors of the special privilege — now agree that the law is not being used by all as intended: to come and create new, productive lives in the United States.
The bill under construction envisions Cubans upon arrival making a formal declaration that they are fleeing the country because of political persecution, but it’s unclear if or how that would be investigated.
Once in the U.S., Cubans who signed such a declaration would face repercussions if they returned to the Communist-led state, Schultheis said. Travel exceptions for emergencies would be permitted though those details, too, are not yet worked out.
Now, Cubans are presumed refugees and granted U.S. residency without having to prove they were victims of government persecution. Generally, refugees or asylum seekers from other countries have to prove a “well founded fear of persecution,” based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular group.
Unlike refugees from most other countries, many Cubans in recent years have taken to returning to their homeland frequently to visit friends and relatives, party, or ferry goods for their families and businesses there. The Sun Sentinel found that criminals, too, return to Cuba to recruit accomplices or stow ill-gotten money.
Curbelo’s proposal seems at odds with momentum built by President Obama’s new regulations for greater travel options to Cuba, including direct flights out of more cities and planned ferry service from Florida. And historically, when the U.S. imposed severe travel restrictions, people disguised their trips and went to Cuba through a third country, such as Mexico or the Bahamas.
Cuba scholar Christopher Sabatini, adjunct professor of international affairs at Columbia University in New York, questioned how restrictions on travel by Cuban immigrants would be enforced. “Why would you create a giant monstrosity to monitor it?”
The real issue, he said, is why the United States continues to preserve the Cuban Adjustment Act at all when many people are fleeing economic conditions on the island, not political oppression. “Why not just treat them like anybody else?”
But Cuban-Americans in Congress have been unwilling to repeal the special preference, citing ongoing human-rights abuses in Cuba and lack of political freedoms.
“It’s a delicate thing because you don’t want to come across against the Cuban Adjustment Act for the people who legitimately do need it,” Schultheis said. “We’re not trying to take away the Cuban Adjustment Act.”
Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, part of a prominent Cuban-American family, said the law is “ripe for reform.”
“We have been seeing more and more abuses of the Cuban Adjustment Act,” he said. “That is not something that any of us should stand for.”
He pointed to a Sun Sentinel story earlier this month that showed how the law’s broad application provided a path to the U.S. for immigrants who were not born in Cuba and had never even been there. Venezuelans, Mexicans and others were able to obtain U.S. residency simply because one of their parents was born in Cuba.
“The law was intended to protect refugees and this kind of abuse undermines its purpose,” said a spokeswoman for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who is running for president. “We should look at how this issue can be addressed and avoid people taking advantage of America’s generosity.”
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Democrat whose district straddles Broward and Palm Beach counties, said the parent loophole is “one of many problems that Congress will have to grapple with” in reexamining the country’s Cuba policy.
Curbelo’s proposal is similar to one first introduced in 2011 by then-Rep. David Rivera, also a Miami Republican. It would have rescinded the legal residency, or “green card,” of any Cuban who returned to the island before becoming a U.S. citizen. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, an influential Cuban American from Miami, was listed as a co-sponsor.
“If Cubans are able to travel back to the Communist dictatorship, then they should not have received the residency benefits associated with the Cuban Adjustment Act and they should lose that benefit immediately,” Rivera testified at a 2012 hearing.
He cited the need to protect U.S. taxpayers from fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. The Sun Sentinel showed in its January investigation that natives of Cuba, operating mostly in South Florida, account for less than one percent of the U.S. population but 41 percent of federal arrests nationwide for health care fraud.
While the bill died in committee, Curbelo hopes he’ll have more support now.
“When you do talk to other members of Congress about the abuses of the Cuban Adjustment Act, everyone accepts that they exist,” said Schultheis, his chief of staff. “We just want to make sure we’re upholding the integrity of the law and why it exists.”
Florida’s Sun Sentinel/Editorial/InternetPhotos/www.thecubanhistory.com
The Cuban History, HOLLYWOOD.
-Cuba Today-
Arnoldo Varona, Editor