Cuba says United States has deported 117 Cuban migrants since policy shift

Cuba says United States has deported 117 Cuban migrants since policy shift

Cuba said on Friday the United States had deported 117 migrants back to
the island nation since ending its policy granting automatic residency
to almost every Cuban who reached U.S. soil as part of the normalization
of relations.

Those deported included two people who were returned on Friday on the
first flight chartered specifically for the deportation of Cuban
migrants since the policy shift, Cuba's ruling Communist Party newspaper
Granma wrote. The earlier deportees were taken back on commercial planes
or boat.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama repealed the special immigration
policy for Cubans days before turning the White House over to Donald Trump.

Cuban authorities had long sought its end, arguing that the promise of
U.S. residency was fuelling people-trafficking and encouraging dangerous
journeys.

The move however dashed the hopes of many who had been hoping to fulfill
their American Dream and left hundreds of Cubans seeking a new life
stranded halfway on their journey.

Since the policy shift, more than 680 Cuban "irregular migrants" have
been deported in total from various countries, Granma wrote, including
more than 400 from Mexico, 117 from the Bahamas and 39 from the Cayman
Islands.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta; Editing by Michael Perry)

Source: Cuba says United States has deported 117 Cuban migrants since
policy shift | Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-migration-idUSKBN15X058