Cuba policy stumps Ben Carson in Florida

Cuba policy stumps Ben Carson in Florida

Ben Carson heads to South Florida to promote book
A reporter asked him about a key local political issue: U.S.-Cuba policy
He was stumped — and admitted it
BY PATRICIA MAZZEI AND AMY SHERMAN
pmazzei@miamiherald.com

Ben Carson has defied the traditional presidential playbook, taking time
off from the campaign trail to promote his latest book and sign copies
for hundreds of fans, even in Democratic strongholds like Tallahassee.

He heads to more unusual ground in South Florida on Thursday: West
Kendall, a Hispanic bastion, and Fort Lauderdale, the seat of the bluest
county in Florida. Carson leads hometown candidates Marco Rubio and Jeb
Bush in the latest Florida polls, behind Donald Trump.

"I'm a little different than most of the candidates," Carson told the
Miami Herald in a phone interview Wednesday.

Before Carson campaigns to Miami-Dade County's Cuban-American
Republicans, though, he might have a little catching up to do.

In the Herald interview, Carson appeared stumped by questions about the
so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy, which allows Cubans who reach U.S.
soil to remain here, and about the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows
Cubans who arrive in the U.S. to apply for legal residency after 366 days.

He was candid about not being up to speed.

"You're going to have to explain to me exactly what you mean by that,"
Carson said, asked about wet-foot, dry-foot. "I have to admit that I
don't know a great deal about that, and I don't really like to comment
until I've had a chance to study the issue from both sides."

YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO ME EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN BY THAT.
Ben Carson on the wet-foot, dry-foot policy

On the Cuban Adjustment Act, he gave a similar response: "Again, I've
not been briefed fully on what that is."

When a reporter explained the outlines of the policy, Carson said, "It
sounds perfectly reasonable."

The reporter then informed him of abuses to the policy by Cubans who
obtain residency and claim federal government benefits only to make
frequent trips back to the island. The abuses have been documented by
the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

"I think the way to fix that is not so much to abolish the act, but
dealing with the specific area where the abuse is," Carson said, noting
that Medicare and Medicaid fraud is "huge — half a trillion dollars."

The retired neurosurgeon who lives in West Palm Beach did speak in
greater length about President Barack Obama's move to reestablish
diplomatic relations with Cuba.

"I would certainly like to bring Cuba along, in terms of understanding
how to treat people fairly. I think we've lost our leverage in doing so,
because Raúl Castro's 83 years old," Carson said (close: Castro turned
84 in June). "He can't be there much longer. They're going to have a
change in regime. That would be the time to normalize relations." The
U.S. trade embargo, he added, should be maintained.

Carson is not the first candidate from outside Florida to stumble in his
initial encounter with Cuba policy. Four years ago, Republican Herman
Cain decried "foggy foreign policy" in Miami — only to fail to respond
to a Herald reporter's questions about wet-foot, dry-foot and the CAA.

In his 2012 book, America the Beautiful, Carson wrote about visiting
Cuba with his wife, Candy, and a group of business leaders.

"The many street vendors and performers in the main city squares create
a festive facade, but having spoken to Cuban refugees, I could only
sympathize with the masses of people and hope that someday they can
experience true freedom," he wrote. "Although some people, such as the
documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, extol the virtues of Cuban society,
the tide of illegal immigration is from Cuba to America, not vice versa."

"Unfortunately, although Americans are free to leave this country any
time they want to go live somewhere else, such privileges are not
afforded to the average Cuban or those in many countries where the
government controls their lives," Carson concluded.

Source: Cuba policy stumps Ben Carson in Florida | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/elections-2016/article42974889.html