Over 680 Cuban immigrants have been sent back to Cuba following last month’s decision to end the long-standing US policy of providing Cubans with a preferred immigrant status. This was according to Cuban state media on Saturday. Official Cuban reports state that 683 people have been deported from the US, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, or Mexico, from where they were attempting to cross the US border to the Caribbean island.
The decades-old policy was scrapped with immediate effect on 12 January by outgoing President Barack Obama, removing the near-automatic entry that had been granted to any Cuban who was able to set foot on American soil, in spite of their lack of a US visa. Cubans who had tried to reach the US by sea were sent back.
The scrapping of the policy was part of the attempt by the former President to normalize relations with the island after 50 years of hostility, a process that Obama and Cuban President, Raul Castro, had begun in 2015. Now, all Cuban immigrants are treated the same and returned to Cuba unless they offer US officials convincing evidence that they have valid humanitarian reasons for entry, or that they would face persecution if forced to return to Cuba.
Obama’s shock decision was made a few days before he left office, making way for the inauguration of President Donald Trump on 20 January. Trump has criticized the decision to normalize Cuban-US relations but has promised to crack down on illegal immigration.