Poll finds Cubans in Miami aghast at welfare abuses

Poll finds Cubans in Miami aghast at welfare abuses
By Megan O'Matz, John Maines and Sally Kestin

Most Cubans coming to the United States today are seeking economic
opportunity, not political refuge, and don't deserve U.S. taxpayer
assistance, according to a majority of Cuban-Americans polled by the Sun
Sentinel and Florida Atlantic University.

Q | What do you think is the main reason Cubans are coming to the U.S.
today?

For economic opportunities
50.1%
Fleeing political persecution
36.1%
Not sure/don't know
13.8%

Cuban-Americans especially disapprove of Cubans who collect aid as
presumed refugees, then travel back and forth between the U.S. and Cuba.
About 62 percent said the U.S. should cut off welfare for those who
regularly return to the Communist island.


The poll revealed a divide between recent arrivals and Cubans who have
lived in the U.S. for more than two decades. Those with deeper roots
here firmly objected to giving welfare to Cubans not fleeing
persecution, while those here five years or less favored such aid.

The survey of 423 randomly-selected Miami-Dade County residents of Cuban
descent was conducted by phone, in English or Spanish, over four days in
early December by FAU's Business and Economics Polling Initiative.

Two-thirds of those polled were born in Cuba and four out of five had
lived in the U.S. more than two decades. The majority said they are U.S.
citizens and registered Republicans. The margin of error is plus or
minus 4.8 percentage points.

The poll follows Sun Sentinel investigations documenting systematic
exploitation of Cold War immigration privileges, granted only to Cubans,
that have endured for more than 50 years.

Unlike immigrants from other countries, Cubans who make it to the U.S.
without authorization can legally stay and are eligible for welfare
benefits that now cost U.S. taxpayers more than $680 million a year, the
Sun Sentinel determined.

This unique status has endured despite warming relations and increased
travel between the two countries. Cubans now regularly return to the
island without fear of reprisals – calling into question the U.S. policy
of treating most Cubans as presumed refugees.

Some Cubans even return to live in Cuba while collecting U.S. welfare,
the Sun Sentinel found. And increasing numbers of Cubans are relocating
to America in their golden years, eligible to collect assistance
earmarked for poor elderly Americans.

People who responded to the poll overwhelmingly said Cubans who never
worked in the U.S. but came here late in life should not be able to
collect that aid, currently as much as $733 a month for individuals. On
this point, Cuban-Americans of all ages agreed.

The majority of respondents -- 69 percent -- also said Cubans who come
to the U.S. on tourist visas but then stay permanently should not be
eligible to collect welfare benefits once they transition to legal
residents.

Cuban-Americans were divided on the question of whether the Cuban
Adjustment Act is still needed today. But that divide is significant –
it indicates waning support for the cornerstone of the United States'
special immigration policies for Cubans.

Under the 1966 act, any Cuban who has been in the U.S. for a year and a
day can apply to become a permanent legal resident – far more quickly
than other immigrants.

Most of those polled agreed that the Cuban Adjustment Act should be
restricted to only those who suffered political persecution under the
Castro government, not those coming to the U.S. to seek their fortune.
Those over age 55 felt most strongly about it, with two-thirds concurring.

"The older Cubans who have been here for a longer time feel that the Act
has been abused," said Jaime Suchlicki, director of the University of
Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. "It was intended
for political refugees and it's now becoming an immigration act -- just
to get into the U.S."

He said most of those coming now are not escaping arrest, detention or
harassment by the Castro government. "If you were a political refugee
and you escape the country you just don't go back a year after. You stay."

The poll echoes mounting concerns in Miami and Washington.

The survey was conducted about a week and a half before U.S. Rep. Carlos
Curbelo, a Miami Republican, introduced a bill to deny public assistance
to future Cuban immigrants unless they prove to U.S. officials that they
were politically persecuted in Cuba.

"Curbelo is saying they're not refugees and he's right. It's about time
somebody did that," said Cuban-born Miami immigration attorney Grisel
Ybarra. "We're being ripped off."

Suchlicki said he heard recently that a Cuban immigrant in South Florida
received a government-subsidized apartment, then rented it to someone
else and "went to Cuba, is living in Cuba."

"I think the majority of people are fed up with the abuses," he said.

View more detailed results in PDF format here:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/-sun-sentinel-fau-cuba-poll-20151217-acrobat.html

Source: Sun Sentinel/FAU poll of Cubans - Sun Sentinel -
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-cuba-benefits-poll-htmlstory.html