The government of Cuba is attempting to rally popular support against US immigration policies that encourage people to emigrate illegally away from the island. The policies, which were implemented to try to undermine the revolution, have left thousands of Cubans who were hoping to get to the United State trapped in Costa Rica.
“These citizens are victims of the politicization of the migration issue on the part of the United States government,” claims the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Cuba. The ministry points out that the policy of the US government in relation to Cuban immigration is the only such policy in the world, allowing any Cuban who sets foot on American soil, however illegally they get there, to remain under the dubious rationale that they are escaping a dictatorship on the island that would otherwise not allow them to leave.
The reality is that nearly three years ago, in January 2013, it was made much easier for citizens to go overseas by the Cuban government. Since this time nearly half a million Cubans have traveled to the United States, Panama, Ecuador, Spain and Mexico to find work or visit family members.
Although diplomatic relations have now been resumed between the United States and Cuba and the old immigration policy is still in place, many fear it will soon come to an end. This has resulted in thousands of Cuban immigrants heading to Mexico to try to get into the US this year; however, they are now stranded at the Nicaraguan border.
Cuba and other countries are calling on the US to end its damaging immigration policies.