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Migrations from Cuba began after Castro's 1959 victory and continued until the U.S. government imposed a blockade on Cuba at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. By that time almost 250,000 Cubans had left for the U.S. Supporters of former dictator Fulgencio Batista were the first to leave followed by business people who opposed Castro's socialist government.
Another 300,000 Cubans arrived in the United States between 1965 and 1973 after Cuba and the U.S. agreed that those with relatives in the U.S. could leave Cuba by boat and later by plane. This third migration, known as the Mariel Boat Lift, occurred in 1980 after Castro permitted Cubans in the United States to visit relatives in Cuba. The sight of well-to-do Cuban Americans thriving in the States coupled with an economic downturn on the island prompted many Cubans to line up at the Peruvian Embassy, which Castro had opened for emigration. The sheer numbers of Cubans clamoring to leave led Castro to permit anyone who wanted to leave to do so by boat from the port of Mariel. Some 125,000 Cubans took advantage of this opportunity.
As economic conditions worsened after the fall of Cuba's principal economic supporter, the Soviet Union, thousands of Cubans left in makeshift boats for Florida, many perishing on the journey. President Clinton initiated a policy of intercepting these migrants at sea and detaining them in centers at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere in Latin America. Later, the “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy permitted Cubans who made it onto American soil to stay in the US while those caught at sea were returned to Cuba
These four migrations have brought substantial numbers of Cubans to the United States. Most live in Florida and there are sizable communities in New York, New Jersey, and California. Return to Cuba has not been an option for Cuban Americans for political reasons and recent surveys have shown that younger Cuban Americans who were born in the U.S. do not wish to live in Cuba.
The Cuban American community is well assimilated in the United States and politically powerful, especially in Florida. The administration of the second President Bush gave Cuban Americans the right to visit nuclear family in Cuba while President Obama ended limits on how often those with relatives on the island may visit and on the value of remittances they can bring to relatives in Cuba. Consequently, many Cuban Americans have returned to visit the land of their birth or that of their relatives.
Some still fear being retained in Cuba but the need to go back is great so they join us and we help them revisit family homes which they often find decayed and occupied by squatters. Sometimes they find old furniture left in the same spot it had been when they left and they tell many stories about their ancestral home and the island. As one Cuban American said about a home that had fallen on hard times since her family left: “It’s really sad to think what it could have been. Then again, maybe I wouldn’t have been here. But I do know now I want to be more involved in helping in any way.” For years, exile families whose homes were confiscated sought compensation and hoped to one day reclaim them. Most have long since given up that dream but the ghost of such threats remain for Cubans on the island who took refuge in these homes because of the housing shortage following the Revolution as Cubans came in huge numbers to the cities.
A Cuban who agreed to show a visitor from the U.S. around his house that had formerly belonged to the visitor's family was clearly anxious about the unexpected visit. Inside the house a cluster of wooden rocking chairs faced a small television, encircling a floral design in the marble-tile floor. Senor Lopez, the current occupant of the house, said the staircase had long been blocked off so another family could live on the second floor. This arrangement is typical of the many buildings that have been subdivided since 1959 to create more, but smaller homes. In the corner was a small altar with carved wooden figures. “I help people with what ails them,” he explained, taking out the beaded chains and deer horns he uses as part of the healing ceremony. “This must be very difficult for him,” Lopez said quietly. “It must be hard coming back here.” The returning Cuban American tourists wondered what their parents would make of the photos they brought back. “I don’t know if seeing her home in this way will bring her joy or sadness.” But in little more than a day in Cuba, their own perspective had changed. “I’d like to learn more about their experience,” she said of the Cubans who stayed on the island and those who emigrated more recently. “And I’d like to maybe bring our two worlds closer together".
Another 300,000 Cubans arrived in the United States between 1965 and 1973 after Cuba and the U.S. agreed that those with relatives in the U.S. could leave Cuba by boat and later by plane. This third migration, known as the Mariel Boat Lift, occurred in 1980 after Castro permitted Cubans in the United States to visit relatives in Cuba. The sight of well-to-do Cuban Americans thriving in the States coupled with an economic downturn on the island prompted many Cubans to line up at the Peruvian Embassy, which Castro had opened for emigration. The sheer numbers of Cubans clamoring to leave led Castro to permit anyone who wanted to leave to do so by boat from the port of Mariel. Some 125,000 Cubans took advantage of this opportunity.
As economic conditions worsened after the fall of Cuba's principal economic supporter, the Soviet Union, thousands of Cubans left in makeshift boats for Florida, many perishing on the journey. President Clinton initiated a policy of intercepting these migrants at sea and detaining them in centers at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere in Latin America. Later, the “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy permitted Cubans who made it onto American soil to stay in the US while those caught at sea were returned to Cuba
These four migrations have brought substantial numbers of Cubans to the United States. Most live in Florida and there are sizable communities in New York, New Jersey, and California. Return to Cuba has not been an option for Cuban Americans for political reasons and recent surveys have shown that younger Cuban Americans who were born in the U.S. do not wish to live in Cuba.
The Cuban American community is well assimilated in the United States and politically powerful, especially in Florida. The administration of the second President Bush gave Cuban Americans the right to visit nuclear family in Cuba while President Obama ended limits on how often those with relatives on the island may visit and on the value of remittances they can bring to relatives in Cuba. Consequently, many Cuban Americans have returned to visit the land of their birth or that of their relatives.
Some still fear being retained in Cuba but the need to go back is great so they join us and we help them revisit family homes which they often find decayed and occupied by squatters. Sometimes they find old furniture left in the same spot it had been when they left and they tell many stories about their ancestral home and the island. As one Cuban American said about a home that had fallen on hard times since her family left: “It’s really sad to think what it could have been. Then again, maybe I wouldn’t have been here. But I do know now I want to be more involved in helping in any way.” For years, exile families whose homes were confiscated sought compensation and hoped to one day reclaim them. Most have long since given up that dream but the ghost of such threats remain for Cubans on the island who took refuge in these homes because of the housing shortage following the Revolution as Cubans came in huge numbers to the cities.
A Cuban who agreed to show a visitor from the U.S. around his house that had formerly belonged to the visitor's family was clearly anxious about the unexpected visit. Inside the house a cluster of wooden rocking chairs faced a small television, encircling a floral design in the marble-tile floor. Senor Lopez, the current occupant of the house, said the staircase had long been blocked off so another family could live on the second floor. This arrangement is typical of the many buildings that have been subdivided since 1959 to create more, but smaller homes. In the corner was a small altar with carved wooden figures. “I help people with what ails them,” he explained, taking out the beaded chains and deer horns he uses as part of the healing ceremony. “This must be very difficult for him,” Lopez said quietly. “It must be hard coming back here.” The returning Cuban American tourists wondered what their parents would make of the photos they brought back. “I don’t know if seeing her home in this way will bring her joy or sadness.” But in little more than a day in Cuba, their own perspective had changed. “I’d like to learn more about their experience,” she said of the Cubans who stayed on the island and those who emigrated more recently. “And I’d like to maybe bring our two worlds closer together".