The United States once suffered a big loss at the hands of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, presumably Castro did not expect that the United States, the sworn enemy, would take the initiative to send it to the door, what is going on?
U.S.-Cuba relations
The closest distance between the United States and Cuba is only 90 miles, which can be reached by bamboo raft, which is why the United States has wanted to "take" Cuba since the 19th century, and the United States has intervened in Cuba's war of independence.
Cuba became a "henchman" of the United States for a long time, and most of the Cuban government personnel were pro-American, so to speak, the United States controlled Cuba until the victory of the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro, a situation that was broken.
No one wants to surrender all the time, and Castro is no different. He first publicly refuted the U.S. government, and then carried out a series of reforms in Cuba, including land reform, Castro ordered the confiscation of land by American companies in Cuba, and the nationalization of American companies.
Cuba's provocative actions have made the United States angry and dangerous, and wants to replace the Cuban leader.
But Castro was the first to establish relations with the Soviet Union and signed a trade deal. The United States was so angry with Castro's actions that it stopped all economic aid to Cuba, imposed an embargo, and sent agents to assassinate Castro.
The US-Cuba relationship has broken down so far, which has caused a lot of people, who is it?
This group of people is the people who want to flee Cuba, there are businessmen, there are scholars, they all want to go to the United States to make a fortune.
The United States has thought of a trick, what is it?
They intend to hollow out the Cuban middle class through "immigration", so that Cuba will have no businessmen and scholars, and Cuba's economy, science and technology will stagnate.
As a result, the United States extended the visa-free policy to Cuban fugitives, and told Cubans who arrived in the United States that "as long as they claim to be fleeing communist oppression," they can apply for parole, and they can also obtain refugee status to settle in the United States, find jobs and receive financial assistance, and get a U.S. green card after one year in the United States.
How will Cuba respond to this US policy?
Cuban machination
Perhaps, Castro himself did not expect that the United States would take the initiative to send it to the door to find guilt, how to say?
As early as when relations between the United States and Cuba were good, many middle-class immigrants from Cuba went to the United States, and the two countries still had close contacts. After Cuba and the Soviet Union reconciled, the United States cut off ties with Cuba, but the two countries were so close that some smuggled Cubans could paddle to the United States on a bamboo raft.
Cuba had a hard time facing brain drain, but it soon came up with a way to deal with it: since the United States has opened its doors to immigration, then Cuba should help the United States.
Castro figured it out, who to let go and not go? Isn't it a different thing about one identity?
At that time, the domestic situation in Cuba was not very good, the US blockade, and the slow development of the domestic economy, breeding many criminals, Castro felt that all this was provoked by the United States, so the United States had to clean it up.
As a result, Castro re-identified 150,000 criminals, hooligans, mentally ill people, and sex workers in Cuba, and in April 1980, opened Cuba's port of Mariel to the United States, allowing the 15 "transformed" Cubans to "smuggle" to the United States.
According to statistics, in just half a year, the port of Miami in Florida received 120,000 Cubans. As a direct result, Miami's crime rate skyrocketed, and in 1980-1981 it was one of the cities with the highest murder rate in the United States.
And what is the United States thinking at this time?
At this time, the United States thought that the Cubans had a low level of education, so they could only arrest criminals and educate this group of people at the same time. However, the arrest of these Cubans by the United States has also caused them a lot of trouble.
Most of the Cubans arrested are being held in a town called Oakdale in Louisiana, USA, with a total of 998 people, and they are generally released after a short period of time.
However, the United States has already reacted that this is a complete "conspiracy" of Cuba, and that the Cuban middle class that the United States expects did not come, but that all those who came were Cuban criminals and mentally ill people, and the United States protested against Cuba and demanded that these people be repatriated to Cuba.
As the saying goes, "it is easier to please God than to send God", Cuba has sent people out, where will the United States send it back.
After lengthy negotiations, in November 1984, Cuba agreed to bring back 2,746 Cuban convicts and mentally ill people, but the United States had to accept 35,000 Cuban political convicts each year and allow 20,000 Cubans to immigrate to the United States each year.
The United States had no choice but to agree to this policy, but unexpectedly, the criminals who were imprisoned in Oakdale learned the news through the radio, and they went through hardships and crossed the ocean to the United States, just to wait one year to get their US green cards, and now they want to send them back, and this group of Cuban criminals does not agree at all.
As a result, the Cuban criminals in the American prison "reversed" and occupied the Oakdale detention center, which attracted the attention of the Cuban criminals in the Atlanta prison, and this group of Cuban criminals also followed suit and occupied the Atlanta prison in the United States.
Cuban criminals in Oakdale took Americans hostage and demanded negotiations with the U.S. judiciary not to allow the U.S. to deport them, and to obtain U.S. citizenship and remain in the U.S. after their sentences were completed.
The United States had no choice but to agree to a deferred deferment plan, but the outcome of these Cuban convicts was not known. However, Cuba has also postponed plans to bring back the convicts after hearing the sarcasm on American radio.
So, what happened to the Cuban "immigration" affair in the end?
Immigration stopped?
In 1995, Clinton amended the Cuban Adjustment Act to introduce a "dry feet, wet feet" policy.
If the Cuban smugglers were able to reach Miami Beach, the United States would recognize them, but if Cuban migrants were stopped by American law enforcement officers at sea, they would have to be repatriated.
In 2017, Obama ended the policy, saying that it would forcibly return Cuban citizens who entered the United States illegally or did not qualify for humanitarian assistance. However, the United States still receives about 20,000 Cuban citizens from traditional channels every year.
In 2022, Cuba fell into an economic crisis, and more Cubans were illegally smuggled into the United States, and Biden also lent on the same terms. Illegal immigration to Cuba alone has always been a major problem for the United States.
Cuba put forward its opinion in 2024 that Cuba believes that everyone is actively immigrating to the United States because of the blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba, and Cuba has asked the United States to lift the sanctions imposed on them, so as to effectively reduce the problem of illegal immigration in Cuba.
But the United States is too strong to be afraid of a repeat of the 1980 wave of Cuban refugees.
Resources:
[1] International Perspectives, "A Riot in the Prison: The Beginning and End of the Cuban Prisoner Riot in the United States", 19870525
[2] The Paper, "The Confrontation between Hegemony and Sovereignty: Two Hundred Years of Grievances between the United States and Cuba: A Review of the Outline of the History of Relations between the United States and Cuba", 20230713