Of all Latinos in the United States, Cubans supported Donald Trump’s presidential campaign the most. More than half of the Cuban population supported Trump these past elections – a staggering amount when compared to Trump’s approval rating of only 26% by the rest of the Latino community.
Despite their support, the order for Cuban deportation increased and now reached up to 37,218 cases, according to official numbers published by the New Herald. Detention centers also registered an increase in Cubans getting held there.
160 Cubans were deported last year, which pales in comparison to the 226,119 ICE expelled during 2017. The number of Cubans trying to get to the United States decreased drastically since their immigration protection policy known as “wet feet, dry feet” got lifted last January 12th.
Cuba is 90 miles away from the south of Florida. Before the 12th, Cubans able to touch American soil were allowed to remain and pursue residency a year later as part of the former interpretation of the Cuban Adjustment Act.
If they got caught when they were still at sea, they got sent back to Cuba. Whether their feet are dry or wet doesn’t matter anymore, every single Cuban immigrant must arrive at the U.S. with legal documentation.
They can still ask for political asylum stating a “well-founded fear of returning to Cuba.” However, this process translates to spending months detained in the U.S., without any knowledge or certainty their request will get approved.
This new policy reduced the number of Cuban immigrants drastically. 5,398 boats got stopped last year and only 1,468 in 2017.
This article was inspired by MIAMI HERALD // More than 37,000 Cubans face deportation orders