Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) appeared to shift his position on Cuban migrants during a radio interview last week. Sen. Rubio told Drew Steele, the host of Daybreak on Fox News, that with the United States' changing policy on Cuba and the attitudes of recent Cuban refugees towards Cuba, he believes the Cuban Adjustment Act, which gives special treatment to Cuban citizens under U.S. immigration policy, needs to be re-evaluated.
"[W]e're now seeing growing evidence that a number of people that are coming from Cuba, supposedly fleeing oppression, are returning to Cuba thirty, forty, fifty times a year. Some are living in Cuba for months at a time on our taxpayer money," Sen. Rubio said. "So I just think it's wrong and what I would do is get rid of that presumption and say look, a Cuban, just like everybody else, if they can prove that they're refugees, they will be treated as refugees. Otherwise, they won't be automatically presumed to be a refugee for purposes of benefits."
Under the Cuban Adjustment Act, the length of time required before a Cuban citizen who is present in the United States can adjust to legal permanent resident status is reduced to only one year. Furthermore, the act exempts Cuban citizens from several other requirements that are required for citizens from other countries. The policy is informally called "Wet Foot, Dry Foot."
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) has introduced legislation, H.R. 3818, that would fully repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act. Sen. Rubio has also introduced legislation, S. 2441, but it would only apply to some Cuban citizens and not repeal the full act.
The issue has moved more into the spotlight after Pres. Obama travelled to Cuba last month to begin normalizing relations between the two countries. The United States has had an embargo in place against Cuba since 1960. Fearing that a change in U.S.-Cuba relations could end special treatment for Cuban migrants, thousands of Cubans have left the country for the United States. Most Cubans are traveling to Central America where they can then travel to the U.S.-Mexico border to enter the United States; an easier route than attempting to cross the Straits of Florida. Several Central American countries are assisting the Cuban migrants by facilitating their travel to the U.S.-Mexico border.
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