A sudden surge in Cuban migrants

Posted on Monday, 12.09.13
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CUBA
A sudden surge in Cuban migrants
BY ALFONSO CHARDY AND JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

BY THE NUMBERS:
• 44,000 migrants arrived in the United States in the fiscal year that
ended Sept. 30, the highest total since 1994 and 10 percent higher than
the estimated 40,000 arrivals in the previous year.
• 24,727 arrived with U.S. visas or permits as migrants, refugees or
parolees in FY13, compared to 26,720 in FY12.
• 29,927 received U.S. visitor visas during FY13, compared to 14,362 in
FY12.
• 226,877 traveled abroad in the first 10 months after the Jan. 14
migration reforms in Cuba, compared to 167,684 in the same period in 2012.
• Cuban refugee arrivals recorded by Florida Department of Health
clinics in Miami-Dade increased 20 percent in June 2013, compared to
that month's average over the previous three years.
SOURCE: Figures gathered by El Nuevo Herald from Cuban and U.S.
government reports, state of Florida officials and news reports.

It was mid-July, and a public health clinic in Miami was facing such a
sharp spike in new Cuban migrants walking in for their required health
screenings that it had to expand its hours of operations in a hurry.

The number of Cubans going to the Florida State Department of Health
clinic had surged by 20 percent that June, compared to the three-year
average for the month, and experts around South Florida were seeing
similar spikes in arrivals.

By the end of August the clinic had returned to its regular hours and
Keyler Rodriguez, 27, a hospital worker from Santa Clara who arrived in
Miami one month ago, got her health screening last week without any delays.

"I think all Cubans want to leave," joked Rodriguez, who flew from Cuba
to Ecuador one month ago and joined the clandestine stream that takes
undocumented Cubans by land through Central America to the U.S. border
with Mexico.

Cuban migrant arrivals in South Florida have now subsided. But at least
44,000 arrived in the United States in the fiscal year that ended Sept.
30 (FY13) — the highest total since 1994 and 10 percent higher than the
estimated 40,000 arrivals in FY12.

Fueling the spike was a brew of factors: Hikes in U.S. visas issued to
Cubans; rumors that U.S. benefits for Cuban migrants might be cut;
Spain's economic crisis; Cuba's easing of its migration rules on Jan.
14; and a crackdown on Cubans living in Ecuador.

The U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana issued 24,727 immigrant visas in
FY13, a slight drop compared to 26,720 in FY12, according to U.S.
government figures obtained by El Nuevo Herald. Washington promised to
issue at least 20,000 migrant visas to Cubans per year after the 1994
"Rafter Crisis," which saw 35,000 migrants take to homemade boats, to
discourage such risky voyages.

But the number of tourist visas issued in the same periods more than
doubled, from 14,362 to 29,927, the figures showed. U.S. officials say
that on average, 20 percent of tourist visa recipients remained in the
United States in recent years, indicating that about 6,000 of the 29,927
visitors will become migrants.

The increase in tourist visas, sought mostly by elderly Cubans who want
to visit U.S. relatives, came as consular staffers cleared away a huge
backlog of old applications and processed an increased number of
requests after the Jan. 14 reforms.

The second largest group of Cuban migrants came over the border with
Mexico, without U.S. visas but under "dry-foot, wet-foot," the policy
that allows Cubans who set foot on U.S. land to stay but returns most of
those intercepted at sea.

Mexico border arrivals totaled 13,122 in the 11 months that ended Aug.
31, according to the latest available Customs and Border Protection
figures. That was the highest total since FY05 and a 27 percent hike
over the 10,315 reported for all of FY12.

Among the border arrivals were many who started out from Ecuador, where
friendly immigration rules allowed more than 40,000 Cubans to settle
there by 2010, but recent sweeps against undocumented migrants persuaded
some to head north.

"Things turned bad in Ecuador," said Yuraldi Medina, 41, who lived in
the South American nation for four years before he left earlier this
year, traveling by land to Mexico without proper travel permits and
crossing the border four months ago.

NO PLACE TO WORK

Another group of Cuban migrants, whose size is unknown but is widely
believed to be growing, has been arriving from Spain, where a deep
economic crisis and a 26-percent unemployment rate have been driving out
some of the 125,000 Cubans who live there.

"There's no work for anyone over there," said Havana native Varinia
Colunga, 40, who lived in Spain for 23 years. Using her Spanish
passport, she flew to Miami as a tourist in July and will receive
residency after one year under the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA).

An estimated 100,000 Cubans obtained Spanish citizenship in recent years
under a Madrid law to benefit the descendants of Spanish migrants.
Although many remain living in Cuba, all can enter the United States as
tourists and obtain residency under the CAA.

Havana hairdresser Lazaro Aguilar, 40, said he migrated to Spain three
years ago and later decided to move to South Florida. Lacking a Spanish
passport, he used a European Union travel document to fly to Mexico
City, then went by land to the U.S. border.

One category of migrants that shrank involved Cubans who arrived by sea,
from 423 in FY12 to 359 in FY13 — perhaps because of tight U.S. Coast
Guard patrols or because it's easier to leave the island legally after
the Jan. 14 migration reforms.

Havana officials reported 226,877 Cubans made personal trips abroad in
the first 10 months of this year, a sharp increase from 167,688 in the
same period in 2012. The average from 2000 to 2011 was 82,000 per year,
a stunningly low figure for a nation of 11 million people.

The numbers show why the migration reforms have become the most popular
changes enacted by Cuba ruler Raúl Castro since he officially succeeded
ailing brother Fidel Castro in 2008.

He removed the hated government exit permit known as the white card;
ended the confiscation of properties of those who emigrate; and expanded
from 11 to 24 months the time that Cubans can remain abroad without
losing benefits such as free healthcare. That means they can live in the
United States for one year, obtain U.S. residency under the CAA and
return to the island in time to preserve their Cuban residence.

PROMPTED BY TALK

Experts on Cuban migration said part of the FY13 spike was triggered by
the talk in Miami and Washington in late 2012 and early 2013 about the
possibility of tightening the CAA. Then-U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Fl.,
at one point proposed denying or delaying U.S. residency to any Cuban
who returned to the island for visits.

"Our numbers started going up … August-September" of 2012, said Hiram
Ruiz, head of the Florida Department of Children and Families' refugee
program, which manages services for Cuban migrants. "They continued to
go up — January, February March … we're like wow! Our numbers this year
are going to be astronomical."

But then the numbers began to fall, and by the end of FY13 his agency
had assisted 26,850 Cuban arrivals, only about 1,015 more than in the
previous fiscal year, Ruiz said. His numbers cover only those Cubans who
come to Florida to receive benefits.

But some of the arrivals have been settling in cities with better job
opportunities and lower costs of living than Miami, such as Houston,
Dallas, Fort Worth, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Peter Stranges of Catholic Charities in Houston, one of several agencies
that assist Cuban migrants in that part of Texas, said his agency alone
assisted 600 Cubans in the one-year period ending in May 2013, compared
to 150 in the previous period.

In a back-of-the-envelope calculation, Teo Babun, executive director of
EchoCuba, which helps independent churches in Cuba, estimated that each
migrant arriving in South Florida costs taxpayers $19,000 for housing,
health insurance and other services.

However, Randolph P. McGrorty, of Catholic Charities Legal Services of
Miami, said that South Florida over the years has built an efficient
intake system capable of handling large numbers of Cuban migrants. "I
don't see signs of any strain," he said.

Source: "A sudden surge in Cuban migrants - Miami-Dade -
MiamiHerald.com" -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/07/v-fullstory/3804476/a-sudden-surge-in-cuban-migrants.html