We call on Congress to lift all restrictions on our right to travel to Cuba and our right to send remittances to our loved ones. We also call on Congress to eliminate the Cuban Adjustment Act. Moreover, we call on the Bush Administration to resume the Migration talks with Cuba and to abide by the agreements already entered into with Cuba in 1994 and 1995.
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) April 20, 2004 -- As Cuban-Americans we yearn for a normal relationship with our country of origin. We have families on the island that we desire to visit and help on a regular basis. U.S. laws severely limit our ability to visit and to send remittances to our loved ones in Cuba, and the Bush Administration's recent suspension of the U.S./Cuba migration conversations threaten to further isolate us from our families.
We are now permitted only one family visit to Cuba within a twelve-month period, and our remittances are limited to only $1200 per family per year.
It is immoral to premise our foreign policy toward Cuba on isolating the Cuban people from their loved ones and causing unnecessary economic hardship to our families there. Moreover, we have a constitutional right to travel to Cuba to visit our families, and we have a constitutional right to send remittances without any arbitrary restrictions imposed on us by the United States government.
The U.S. Interests Section in Havana routinely denies visitors' visas to our families in Cuba, because of concerns that under the terms of the Cuban Adjustment Act any Cuban who touches U.S. soil is eligible to remain as a lawful permanent resident. As a result, Cubans risk their lives by trying to cross the dangerous Florida straights on flimsy rafts in an often fatal effort to reach U.S. shores. Many Cuban men, women and children have lost their lives trying to cross those shark-infested waters.
It is immoral to entice innocent people to risk their lives for a green card. We ask that the Congress eliminate the Cuban Adjustment Act and restore normalcy to visa processing at the U.S. Interests Section.
The United States agreed in the Migration Accords it signed with Cuba not to put human lives at risk or to encourage illegal and dangerous immigration, yet the Cuban Adjustment Act does precisely that by rewarding those arrive illegally on U.S. shores and punishing those who would apply for nonimmigrant visas at the U.S. Consulate in Havana only to receive denials.
Earlier this year, the Bush Administration unilaterally suspended the regular conversations it had with Cuba regarding migration issues. This capricious refusal to discuss issues of utmost importance to Cuban-Americans is irresponsible and harmful to the lives of our families.
We call on Congress to lift all restrictions on our right to travel to Cuba and our right to send remittances to our loved ones. We also call on Congress to eliminate the Cuban Adjustment Act. Moreover, we call on the Bush Administration to resume the Migration talks with Cuba and to abide by the agreements already entered into with Cuba in 1994 and 1995.
Cuban American Alliance and Education Fund
1010 Vermont Ave., NW #620
Washington, DC 20005
www.cubamer.org
Contacts:
Delvis Fernandez: (202) 543-6780
Jose Pertierra: (202) 783-6666
Luis Rumbaut: (202) 723-2602
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