This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011)

Cuban refugees arriving in crowded boats during the Mariel boatlift crisis.

The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans who departed from Cuba's Mariel Harbor for the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980.

The event was precipitated by a sharp downturn in the Cuban economy which led to internal tensions on the island and a bid by up to 10,000 Cubans to gain asylum in the Peruvian embassy.

The Cuban government subsequently announced that anyone who wanted to leave could do so, and an exodus by boat started shortly afterward. The exodus was organized by Cuban-Americans with the agreement of Cuban president Fidel Castro. The exodus started to have negative political implications for U.S. president Jimmy Carter when it was discovered that a number of the exiles had been released from Cuban jails and mental health facilities. The Mariel boatlift was ended by mutual agreement between the two governments involved in October 1980. By that point, as many as 125,000 Cubans had made the journey to Florida.

Background[link]

In the United States[link]

The Mariel boatlift had its origins circa 1977 during a period when relations between Cuba and the United States were improving. The Carter administration established an Interest Section in Havana and the Cuban government reciprocated by establishing an Interest Section in Washington, D.C.. Cuba subsequently agreed to the release of several dozen political prisoners and allowed Cuban Americans to return to the island to visit relatives—a privilege that had been denied previously to Cuban citizens living abroad.

Initially, the Carter administration had an open-arms policy in regard to Cuban immigrants. Cubans were immediately granted refugee status and all the rights that went with it. Additionally, public opinion towards Cuban refugees was initially favorable.

This situation changed when it was discovered that the refugees included criminals and mental patients. Castro arranged for the inclusion of criminals and the mentally ill among the political and economic refugees in order to rid Cuba of undesirables and to damage the image of Cuban exiles.^{[citation needed]} This included homosexuals, such as the poet Reinaldo Arenas, as homosexuality was generally considered a mental illness at the time. United States media accounts such as a May 11, 1980 New York Times article, and the 1983 movie Scarface, suggested that the refugees consisted largely of undesirables.^{[citation needed]}

This heightened tensions between the United States and Cuba.^[1]

In Cuba[link]

In November 1978, the government of Fidel Castro met in the City of Havana with a group of Cubans living in exile, where the government acceded, among other important decisions, to start authorizing Cuban exiles to visit their relatives on the island as early as January 1979.

Prelude[link]

In May 1979 a bus carrying several people crashed through the gates of the Peruvian embassy in the upscale Havana suburb of Miramar. This was the first of several instances of forced entry into the Venezuelan and Peruvian Embassies, that took place between 1979 and early 1980, by groups of people seeking political asylum.

The use of vehicles as battering rams was common. The general population did not have access to a foreign mission without express consent of the authorities.^[2]

Exodus[link]

The episode started when on April 1, 1980 one Hector Sanyustiz acted on a plan he had been organizing secretly for months. He boarded a bus, and along with four others (including the driver), stopped several blocks from Embassy Row in downtown Havana.

The driver, who was a friend of Sanyustiz, announced that the bus had broken down and emptied the vehicle, leaving the four others who were privy to the plan inside. Sanyustiz took control of the bus and drove it through a fence of the Peruvian embassy.

Some of the Cuban guards who were positioned to guard the street opened fire on the bus. One guard was fatally wounded in the crossfire. The five had taken desperate measures to ask for political asylum, so the Peruvian diplomat in charge of the embassy, Ernesto Pinto-Bazurco, granted it.

The Cuban government immediately asked the Peruvian government to return the five individuals, stating that they would need to be tried for the death of the guard. When the Peruvian government refused, Castro threatened to remove the guards at the entrance of the Peruvian embassy, and proceeded to do so on Good Friday, April 4, 1980.

On April 5, 1980, about 750 Cubans gathered at the Peruvian embassy in Havana and said they wanted diplomatic asylum.^[4]

The news of these events spread by word of mouth and by Easter Sunday, there were over 10,000 people crammed into the tiny Peruvian embassy grounds. The Cuban government quickly ordered a large number of guards back into place and blocked access along the perimeter of the embassy. Additionally, travel by motor vehicle was halted in the suburb of Miramar, home to most foreign embassies in the City of Havana.

Inside the embassy, people occupied every open space on the grounds, eventually climbing trees and other structures and refusing to abandon the premises despite the lack of basic surface infrastructure. The dangers inherent in this situation were allayed somewhat by the actions of other embassies, including those of Spain and Costa Rica, which agreed to accept a small number of refugees.

Castro ultimately stated that the port of Mariel would be opened to anyone wishing to leave Cuba, as long as they had someone to pick them up. While news of the situation was not broadcast in Cuba, Cuban exiles in the United States rushed to Key West and to docks in Miami to hire boats to transport people to the United States.

United States Naval and United States Marine Corps Involvement[link]

In May 1980 the United States Navy dispatched the USS Saipan (LHA-2) to support the US Coast Guard with the assistance of refugees who were fleeing Cuba by way of Mariel. The Saipan's mission was to assist, but not directly transport, refugees on their way to mainland Florida. During the mission, Saipan took aboard hundreds of refugees in need of humanitarian assistance. Needs included medical attention, food, fresh water, refueling of private watercraft and the like.

Some refugees from Mariel were ferried to the mainland via commercial watercraft. However, many refugees were poor and in rather dire straits. Essentially, these refugees had taken up less-than-desirable modes of transit, i.e. anything that would float. Jerry-built rafts were not an uncommon sight. Poor watercraft often broke down or ran out of fuel.

Upon completion of their mission, Saipan officers and crew were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for their efforts during the Mariel boatlift.

Also, in May 1980, elements of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division of Camp Lejuene, N.C. provided assistance to the INS; providing around the clock security at Trumbo Point and Truman Annex, interpreters and assisted with the processing of refugees once they arrived in Key West, Florida.

The volume of refugees the Marines had to handle in such a short period of time was amazing. Dozens of watercraft arrived daily. 706 refugees were counted on the Red Diamond alone. One craft lost power 60 miles from Key West and had to be towed to the U.S. mainland. Not all vessels that arrived at Truman Annex were carrying Cubans. Canadians were held for weeks in Mariel Harbor before being allowed to leave.

In recognition of compassionate and dedicated assistance in support of the Cuban refugee humanitarian operation: "Operation Freedom Flotilla" the US Marines of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal and a Certificate of Appreciation for exemplary service at Key West, Florida.

F-4 "Phantom" fighter aircraft from VMFA-312 provided air cover. The Marines of VMFA-312, based at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, at the time also received the Humanitarian Service Medal.

United States Army involvement[link]

In May 1980, the US Army dispatched the 503rd Military Police Battalion (commanded by LTC David Humbert) of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to relieve the Florida National Guard units who were mobilized to handle the on-ground safety and security as well as daily operations of the various refugee compounds established throughout the Miami metropolitan area. These compounds were generally at the various decommissioned Nike-Hercules Missile Defense Sites left over from the Cold War. Other sites were established at the Orange Bowl and various churches throughout the area. Some sites were established to segregate the refugees until they could be provided with initial inprocessing at places like the Nike-Hercules sites at Key Largo and Krome Avenue. Once initially processed and documented, the refugees were quickly transferred to larger compounds in the metropolitan area so they could be reunited with relatives already living in the US as well as to allow interaction with various social action agencies like Catholic Charities, the American Red Cross, and others. It was at these initial processing sites that the undesirable elements were identified and segregated from the general population. The 503rd MP Battalion was augmented by Spanish-speaking soldiers of the 96th Civil Affairs and Psychological Warfare elements of the JFK Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg. As the Haitian refugees started arriving, interpreters were found to be in short supply for Haitian Creole and interpreters from the local Haitian community were put under contract through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As the end of the initial crisis period wound down and after the vetting of those refugees who could be sponsored had run its course, the decision to transfer the 'hard to sponsor' refugees, which included those with criminal records, to longer-term processing sites at Fort Chaffee, AR and Fort Indiantown Gap, PA as a joint operation with FEMA and the US Bureau of Prisons among other federal agencies including the US Army Military Police corps. US Army members participating in this operation were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for their service.

Effect on the Miami labor market[link]

About fifty percent of the Mariel immigrants decided to reside in Miami permanently and this resulted in a seven percent increase in workers in the Miami labor market and a twenty percent increase in the Cuban working population.

Aside from the unemployment rate rising from 5.0 in April 1980 to 7.1 in July, which should be expected with such a large increase of workers, the actual damage to the economy was marginal and followed trends across the United States at the time. When observing data from 1979 to 1985 on the Miami labor market and comparing it to similar data from several other major cities across the United States focusing on wages it is clear that the effects of the boatlift were marginal.^[5]

The wages for Caucasians remained steady in both Miami and comparative cities. Likewise the wage rates for African Americans were relatively steady from 1979 to 1985 when in comparable cities it dropped. Aside from a dip in 1983, wage rates for Non-Cuban Hispanics were stable, when in comparable cities it fell approximately six percent.

There is no evidence of a negative effect on wage rates for Hispanics in Miami. Wages for Cubans demonstrated a steady decline especially compared to other groups in Miami at the time, however, this can be attributed exclusively to the 'dilution' of the group with the new, less-experienced and lower-earning Mariel immigrants, meaning that there is also no evidence of a negative effect on wage rates for Cubans already residing in Miami prior to 1980.^[6]

In Cuba[link]

Fidel Castro declared that those who were leaving the country were Lumpens (or undesirables) and the escoria (or scum) of Cuban society. The United States had been misled into receiving Cuba's undesirables among the refugees. Base-level cells of the Cuban Communist Party staged meetings at the homes of those known to be leaving the country. People were intimidated by these "repudiation meetings" (mitines de repudio) where the participants screamed obscenities and defiled the facades of the homes, throwing eggs and garbage, for hours.^[7]

The end[link]

The Cuban government eventually closed the Mariel harbor to would-be emigrants. Approximately 125,000 Cubans arrived at the United States' shores in about 1,700 boats, creating large waves of people that overwhelmed the U.S. Coast Guard. 27 migrants died, including 14 on an overloaded boat that capsized on May 17, 1980. Upon their arrival, many Cubans were placed in refugee camps. Others were held in federal prisons pending deportation hearings.

Crowded conditions in South Florida immigration processing centers forced U.S. federal agencies to move many of the Marielitos to other centers in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, Camp Santiago, Puerto Rico, and Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. Riots occurred at the Fort Chaffee center and some detainees escaped which became a campaign issue in the re-election defeat of Governor Bill Clinton.

Many refugees were discovered to be undesirables; for example, criminals or mental patients who had been released from Cuban prisons or other institutions. The exact number of undesirables that arrived in the boatlift is disputed, with estimates ranging from as low as 7,500 to as high as 40,000. The generally accepted figure comes from a 1991 Congressional report which estimates that roughly 25 percent of the 125,000 refugees, or about 31,000 people, were undesirables of this type.

The majority of refugees were ordinary Cubans. In the end, only 2% (or 2,746) of the refugees were classified as serious or violent criminals under U.S. law and denied citizenship on that basis.^[8]

Popular culture[link]

The Mariel boatlift was the subject of a 1981 PBS documentary film Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.^[9][10] Fictional depictions include Scarface (1983), The Perez Family (1995), and Before Night Falls (2000). In the pilot episode of the television series Miami Vice ("Brothers Keeper",1984), the villain's right hand man, Trini De Soto, mentions he was in detention with other "Marielito riffraff".

Notable Marielitos[link]

Notable Mariel boatlift refugees ("Marielitos") include:

• Writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Mirta Ojito
• Opera singer Elizabeth Caballero
• The Real World star Pedro Zamora
• Rapper and songwriter Cuban Link
• Actor and soap opera star Rene Lavan
• Julio González, arsonist
• Cuban reggae band Arawak Jah
• Poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas
• Pedro Medina, executed for the 1982 stabbing of Dorothy James in Florida.

See also[link]

	United States portal
	Cuba portal

• Cuban exile
• Atlanta Prison Riots
• Cuba – United States relations
• Garcia-Mir v. Meese
• Jimmy Gresham

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Larzelere, Alex (1988). The 1980 Cuban Boatlift. Washington, DC: National Defense University Press. 
• Mariel Boatlift on globalsecurity.org.

External links[link]

• Memories of Mariel: 20 Years Later.
• Six-year study of Mariel refugees
• Fleeing Cuba For a Better Life in USA
• Searchable Mariel boatlift database, contains 130,000 names and 1,500 boats

v t e Cuba Culture Art Cinema Internet Literature Media Music Musical theater Newspapers Public holidays Radio Religion Sports (Baseball, Boxing, Football) Television Universities Demographics Cubans Afro-Cubans Cape Verdean Chinese Ciboney Filipino German Haitian Isleños Italian Japanese Jews Korean LGBT Spanish White Women Economy Agriculture Agrarian reform Agricultural cooperatives Airline Central bank Communications Peso Convertible peso Tourism Transport Geography General Almendares River Sierra Maestra World Heritage Sites Cities Bayamo Camagüey Ciego de Ávila Cienfuegos Guantánamo Havana Holguín Victoria de Las Tunas Matanzas Pinar del Río Sancti Spíritus Santa Clara Santiago de Cuba Provinces Artemisa Camagüey Ciego de Ávila Cienfuegos Ciudad de La Habana Granma Guantánamo Holguín Isla de la Juventud Las Tunas Matanzas Mayabeque Pinar del Río Sancti Spíritus Santiago de Cuba Villa Clara History Timeline Colonial governors Ten Years' War Little War Cuban War of Independence Sinking of the USS Maine Spanish–American War Platt Amendment Revolution 1932 Cuba Hurricane La Coubre explosion Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuban Missile Crisis War Against the Bandits Cuban intervention in Angola (1975-1991) Cubana Flight 455 Mariel boatlift Special Period 2006 Cuban transfer of presidential duties Tropical cyclones People By Career Academics‎ Activists‎ Actors‎ Architects‎ Artists‎ Ballet Dancers‎ Businesspeople‎ Chefs‎ Comedians‎ Composers‎ Cosmonauts‎ Criminals‎ Dancers‎ Economists‎ Educators‎ Engineers‎ Entertainers‎ Farmers‎ Film Directors‎ Film Producers‎ Geographers‎ Heads Of State‎ Colonial Heads‎ Historians‎ Illustrators‎ Journalists‎ Judges‎ Lawyers‎ Librarians‎ Mathematicians‎ Military Personnel‎ Models‎ Musicians‎ Notaries‎ Painters‎ Philosophers‎ Photographers‎ Physicians‎ Poets‎ Politicians‎ Presidents‎ Psychologists‎ Radio Personalities‎ Rappers‎ Rebels‎ Religious Leaders‎ Revolutionaries‎ Sailors‎ Scientists‎ Sculptors‎ Sex Workers‎ Singers‎ Social Scientists‎ Soldiers‎ Songwriters‎ Sportspeople‎ Television Personalities‎ Women By Occupation‎ Writers‎ By Name Desi Arnaz Fulgencio Batista Leo Brouwer Fidel Castro Raúl Castro Celia Cruz Ibrahim Ferrer Osmani García "La Voz" Máximo Gómez Elián González affair Nicolás Guillén José Martí Pablo Milanés Omara Portuondo Silvio Rodríguez Compay Segundo Félix Varela Politics General Castroism Constitution Elections Foreign relations Law Military Government Opposition Presidency Cuba-U.S. Bay of Pigs Invasion Brothers to the Rescue Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba Cuban American Cuban-American lobby Cuban dissident movement Cuban Five Cuban Missile Crisis Elián González affair Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Helms–Burton Act Cuba-U.S. hijackings Luis Posada Carriles Mariel boatlift Operation Northwoods Operation Peter Pan Platt Amendment Spanish–American War U.S. ambassador U.S. embargo U.S. Interests Section Parties Communist Party Christian Democratic Democratic Socialist Current Democratic Social-Revolutionary Democratic Solidarity Liberal Liberal Movement Social Democratic Co-ordination Former parties: Auténtico Cuban National Democratic Union Independent Republican Ortodoxo Popular Socialist Republican (Havana) Security Military Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) Army Navy Air Force Territorial Troops Militia Law enforcement National Revolutionary Police Force Intelligence Military Counterintelligence Directorate Intelligence Directorate Society Censorship Committees for the Defense of the Revolution Education Healthcare Human rights Rationing Sociolismo Scouting and Guiding

Cuban American · Cubano estadounidense

Gloria Estefan · Andy García · Marco Rubio · Enrique Murciano · Cameron Diaz · Eva Mendes · Pitbull · Christina Milian
Total population
1,785,547 0.6% of the total US population (2010)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Predominantly in Miami, Tampa Bay Area, Northern New Jersey, New York. Growing populations in California, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia.
Languages
Spanish · American English
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Spaniards · Italians · Portuguese · Hispanics Afro-Cuban · Jewish Cuban · Chinese Cuban

A Cuban American (Spanish: Cubano estadounidense) is a United States citizen who traces his or her "national origin" to Cuba. Cuban Americans are also considered native born Americans with Cuban ancestry or Cuban-born persons who were raised and educated in US. Cuban Americans form the third-largest Hispanic group in the United States and also the largest group of Hispanics of European ancestry (predominantly Spanish) as a percentage but not in numbers.^[2][3][4]

Many communities throughout the United States have significant Cuban American populations.^[5] However Miami, Florida, with a Cuban American population of 856,007 in its environs,^[6] stands out as the most prominent Cuban American community, in part because of its proximity to Cuba. It is followed by the Tampa Bay Area and North Hudson, New Jersey, particularly Union City and West New York.^[5] With a population of 141,250, the New York metropolitan area's Cuban community is the largest Cuban-American community outside of Florida.^[6]

Immigration[link]

Early migrations[link]

Prior to the Louisiana Purchase and the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819, all of Florida and Louisiana were provinces of the Captaincy General of Cuba (Captain General being the Spanish title equivalent to the British colonial Governor). Consequently, Cuban immigration to the U.S. has a long history, beginning in the Spanish colonial period in 1565 when St. Augustine, Florida was established by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, and hundreds of Spanish-Cuban soldiers and their families moved from Cuba to St. Augustine to establish a new life. Thousands of Cuban settlers also immigrated to Louisiana between 1778 and 1802 and Texas during the period of Spanish rule.^{[citation needed]}

Key West and Tampa, Florida[link]

In the mid-to late 19th century, several cigar manufacturers moved their operations to Key West to get away from growing disruptions as Cubans sought independence from Spanish colonial rule. Many Cuban cigar workers followed. The Cuban government had even established a grammar school in Key West to help preserve Cuban culture. There, children learned folk songs and patriotic hymns such as "La Bayamesa", the Cuban national anthem.

In 1885, Vicente Martinez Ybor moved his cigar operations from Key West to the town of Tampa, Florida to escape labor strife. Ybor City was designed as a modified company town, and it quickly attracted thousands of Cuban workers from Key West and Cuba. West Tampa, another new cigar manufacturing community, was founded nearby in 1892 and also grew quickly. Between these communities, the Tampa Bay area's Cuban population grew from almost nothing to the largest in Florida in just over a decade, and the city as a whole grew from a village of approximately 1000 residents in 1885 to over 16,000 by 1900.

Both Ybor City and West Tampa were instrumental in Cuba's eventual independence.^[7] Inspired by revolutionaries such as Jose Martí, who visited Florida several times, Tampa-area Cubans and their sympathetic neighbors donated money, equipment, and sometimes their lives to the cause of Cuba Libre.^[8] After the Spanish-American War, some Cubans returned to their native land, but many chose to stay in the U.S. due to the physical and economic devastation caused by years of fighting on the island.^[9]

Other early waves[link]

Several other small waves of Cuban emigration to the U.S. occurred in the early 20th century (1900–1959). Most settled in Florida and the northeast U.S. The majority of an estimated 100,000 Cubans arriving in that time period usually came for economic reasons (the Great Depression of 1929, volatile sugar prices and migrant farm labor contracts),^{[citation needed]} but included anti-Batista refugees fleeing the military dictatorship, which had pro-U.S. diplomatic ties.

Post-Castro Revolution[link]

Political upheaval in Cuba created new waves of Cuban immigrants to the U.S. In 1959, after the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro, a large Cuban exodus began as the new government allied itself with the Soviet Union and began to introduce communism. From 1960 to 1979, hundreds of thousands of Cubans left Cuba and began a new life in the United States. Most Cuban Americans that arrived in the United States initially came from Cuba's educated upper and middle classes. Between December 1960 and October 1962 more than 14,000 Cuban children arrived alone in the U.S. Their parents were afraid that their children were going to be sent to some Soviet bloc countries to be educated^{[citation needed]} and they decided to send them to the States as soon as possible. This program was called Operation Peter Pan (Operacion Pedro Pan). When the children arrived in Miami they were met by representatives of Catholic Charities and they were sent to live with relatives if they had any or were sent to foster homes, orphanages or boarding schools until their parents could leave Cuba. In order to provide aid to recently arrived Cuban immigrants, the United States Congress passed the Cuban Adjustment Act in 1966. The Cuban Refugee Program provided more than $1.3 billion of direct financial assistance. They also were eligible for public assistance, Medicare, free English courses, scholarships, and low-interest college loans. Some banks even pioneered loans for exiles who did not have collateral or credit but received help in getting a business loan. These loans enabled many Cuban Americans to secure funds and start up their own businesses. With their Cuban-owned businesses and low cost of living, Miami, Florida and Union City, New Jersey (dubbed Havana on the Hudson,)^[10] were the preferred destinations for many immigrants and soon became the main centers for Cuban American culture. Union City had the opportunities offered by the embroidery industry. According to author Lisandro Perez, Miami was not particularly attractive to Cubans prior to the 1960s.^[11] It was not until the mass exodus of the Cuban exiles in 1959 that Miami started to become a preferred destination. Westchester, Florida within Miami-Dade County, was the area most densely populated by Cubans and Cuban Americans in the United States, followed by Hialeah, Florida in second.^[12] In 2010, Hialeah, Florida was the area most densely populated by Cubans and Cuban Americans in the U.S., followed by Westchester, Florida in second.

Communities like Miami, Tampa, and Union City, which Cuban-Americans have made their home, have experienced a profound cultural impact as a result, as seen in such aspects of their local culture as cuisine, fashion, music, entertainment and cigar-making.^[13][14]

1980s[link]

Another large wave (an estimated 125,000 people) of Cuban immigration occurred in the early 1980s with the Mariel boatlifts. Most of the "Marielitos" were people wanting to escape from communism, and have succeeded in establishing their roots in the US. Fidel Castro sent some 20 thousand criminals directly from Cuban prisons, as well as mentally ill persons from Cuban mental institutions, with the alleged double purpose of cleaning up Cuban society and poisoning the USA. Those people were labeled "unadmissible" by the US government, and with time, through many negotiations, have been returned to Cuba.

Mid-1990s to 2000s[link]

Since the mid-1990s, after the implementation of the "Wet Foot, Dry Foot" policy immigration patterns changed. Many Cuban immigrants departed from the southern and western coasts of Cuba and arrived at the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico; many landed on Isla Mujeres. From there Cuban immigrants traveled to the Texas-Mexico border and found asylum. Many of the Cubans who did not have family in Miami settled in Houston; this has caused Houston's Cuban American community to increase in size.The term "dusty foot" refers to Cubans emigrating to the U.S. through Mexico. In 2005 the Department of Homeland Security had abandoned the approach of detaining every dry foot Cuban who crosses through Texas and began a policy allowing most Cubans to obtain immediate parole.^[15]

Jorge Ferragut, a Cuban immigrant who founded Casa Cuba, an agency that assists Cuban immigrants arriving in Texas, said in a 2008 article that many Cuban immigrants of the first decade of the 21st century left due to economic instead of political issues.^[16] By October 2008 Mexico and Cuba created an agreement to prevent immigration of Cubans through Mexico.^[17][18]

Immigration policy[link]

Before the 1980s, all refugees from Cuba were welcomed into the United States as political refugees. This changed in the 1990s so that only Cubans who reach U.S. soil are granted refuge under the "wet feet, dry feet policy". While representing a tightening of U.S. immigration policy, the wet foot, dry foot policy still affords Cubans a privileged position relative to other immigrants to the U.S. This privileged position is the source of a certain friction between Cuban Americans and other Latin citizens and residents in the United States, adding to the tension caused by the divergent foreign policy interests pursued by conservative Cuban Americans. Cuban immigration also continues with an allotted number of Cubans (20,000 per year) provided legal U.S. visas.

According to a U.S. Census 1970 report, Cuban Americans as well as Latinos lived in all 50 states. But as later Census reports demonstrated, the majority of Cuban immigrants settled in south Florida. A new trend in the late 1990s showed that fewer immigrants arrived from Cuba than previously. While U.S. born Cuban Americans moved out of their enclaves, other nationalities settled there.

In late 1999, U.S. news media focused on the case of Elián González, the 6-year-old Cuban boy caught in a custody battle between his relatives in Miami and his father in Cuba, after the boy's mother died trying to bring him to the United States. On April 22, 2000, INS (now USCIS) agents took Elián González to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C. From there, his father took him back to Cuba.

Assimilation[link]

Revelers during the 2010 Cuban Day Parade in Union City, New Jersey. North Hudson is sometimes colloquially known as Havana-on-the-Hudson due to it having the largest Cuban American population outside of Florida.

Many Cuban Americans have assimilated themselves into the American culture, which includes Cuban influences.

Since the 1980s, Cuban Americans have moved out of "Little Havana" and "Hialeah" to the suburbs of Miami, such as Kendall, as well in the more affluent Coral Gables and Miami Lakes.

Many new South and Central Americans, along with new Cuban refugees, have replaced the Cuban Americans who have relocated elsewhere in Florida (Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa Bay and West Palm Beach) and dispersed throughout the nation.

Cuban Americans live in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, which received thousands of anti-Castro refugees as well in the 1960s, and Cuban American population growth is found in California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

More recently, there has been substantial growth of new Cuban-American communities in places like Louisville, Kentucky; Raleigh, North Carolina; Austin, Texas; La Puente, California; Lancaster, California and Palmdale, California; Palm Desert, California; Union City, California and Fremont, California in the San Francisco Bay Area; and a number of counties in Nevada such as Clark.^{[citation needed]}

Recently small increases of Cuban Americans were in Sterling, Illinois; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Henderson, Nevada; and the Seattle Metropolitan area of Washington state.^{[citation needed]}

Cuban Americans have been very successful in establishing businesses and developing political clout by transforming Miami from a beach retirement community into a modern city with a younger demographic base with a distinct Caribbean flavor.

U.S. communities with high percentages of people of Cuban ancestry[link]

The top 25 US communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Cuban ancestry are (the top 24 of which are in Miami):^[12]

1. Westchester, Florida 65.69%
2. Hialeah, Florida 62.12%
3. Coral Terrace, Florida 61.87%
4. West Miami, Florida 61.61%
5. University Park, Florida 59.80%
6. Olympia Heights, Florida 57.65%
7. Tamiami, Florida 56.63%
8. Hialeah Gardens, Florida 54.31%
9. Medley, Florida 51.91%
10. Sweetwater, Florida 49.92%
11. Palm Springs North, Florida 43.59%
12. Miami Lakes, Florida 42.28%
13. Kendale Lakes, Florida 38.58%
14. Fountainbleau, Florida 37.29%
15. Miami, Florida 34.14%
16. Miami Springs, Florida 31.83%
17. Richmond West, Florida 29.30%
18. Coral Gables, Florida 28.72%
19. Virginia Gardens, Florida 26.11%
20. South Miami Heights, Florida 25.70%
21. Kendall, Florida 21.31%
22. Miami Beach, Florida 20.51%
23. Surfside, Florida 20.15%
24. Country Club, Florida 19.97%
25. West New York, New Jersey 19.64%

U.S. communities with the most residents born in Cuba[link]

For total 101 communities, see the reference given. Top 20 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Cuba are (all of which are located within Miami):^[19]

1. Westchester, Florida 55.8%
2. Hialeah, Florida 53.5%
3. Coral Terrace, Florida 51.9%
4. West Miami, Florida 50.5%
5. South Westside, FL 48.3%
6. University Park, Florida 48.1%
7. Hialeah Gardens, Florida 47.5%
8. Medley, Florida 46.0%
9. Tamiami, Florida 45.7%
10. Olympia Heights, Florida 45.2%
11. Sweetwater, Florida 45.2%
12. Westwood Lakes, Florida 44.9%
13. Sunset, Florida 32.7%
14. Fountainbleau, Florida 32.3%
15. North Westside, FL 30.4%
16. Miami, Florida 30.3%
17. Miami Lakes, Florida 30.1%
18. Palm Springs North, Florida 29.8%
19. Kendale Lakes, Florida 28.9%
20. Kendale Lakes-Lindgren Acres, FL 24.3%

Cuban American culture[link]

Political beliefs[link]

This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (April 2008)

US citizens of Cuban descent tend to be significantly more politically conservative than other Hispanic groups in the United States and form a major voting block for the Republican Party (GOP) in the state of Florida. Many Cuban Americans fled the island to escape the political and economic repression that they experienced under the Fidel Castro's communist government. As such, they tend to identify with the tough anti-communist stance of the Republican Party. In terms of its influence relative to the population of U.S. citizens of Cuban-American heritage, the Cuban-American lobby is the most powerful in U.S. foreign policy.

In the most recent presidential election, which Democrat Barack Obama received 47% of the Cuban American vote in Florida.^[20] According to Bendixen's exit polls, 84% of Miami-Dade Cuban American voters 65 or older backed McCain, while 55% of those 29 or younger backed Obama.^[21] This indicates that the younger generation may be moving more towards the political center.

The failed Bay of Pigs invasion, and its association with John F. Kennedy, left many Cubans distrustful of the Democratic Party.^{[citation needed]} Many Cuban Americans believe that Kennedy deliberately denied Cuban exiles air support, leading to a rout by Castro forces. The trauma of this event has led to speculation about possible Cuban-American involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy. Ronald Reagan, on the other hand, is particularly popular in the Cuban exile community (there is a street in Miami named for Reagan).^{[citation needed]}.

Political representation[link]

There are now four Cuban-American members of the United States House of Representatives: David Rivera, Mario Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Albio Sires and two senators (Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Marco Rubio of Florida) in the United States Senate. The former Secretary of Commerce, Carlos M. Gutierrez, is also a Cuban-American and Mel Martinez represented Florida in the US Senate from 2004 to 2009. Lincoln Diaz-Balart represented Florida in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011.

Cuban American Marco Rubio was the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 until 2009, and became a US Senator in 2010.

Eduardo Aguirre served as Vice Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States in the George W. Bush administration and later named Director of Immigration and Naturalization Services under the Department of Homeland Security. In 2006, Eduardo Aguirre was named US ambassador to Spain. Cuban-Americans have also served other high profile government jobs including White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu.

Cuban-Americans also serve in high ranking judicial positions as well. Danny Boggs is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Raoul G. Cantero, III, served as a Florida Supreme Court justice until stepping down in 2008.

Food[link]

Cuban food is varied, though rice is a staple and commonly served at lunch and dinner. Other common dishes are arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), pan con bistec (steak sandwich), platanos maduros (sweet plantains), lechon asado (pork), yuca (cassava root), flan, batido de mamey (mamey milkshake), papayas, and guava paste.

A common lunch staple is the Cuban sandwich (sometimes called a mixto sandwich), which is built on Cuban bread and was created and standardized among cigar workers who traveled between Cuba and Florida (especially Ybor City) around the turn of the 20th century^[22][23][24]

Cuban versions of pizza contains bread, which is usually soft, and cheese, toppings, and sauce, which is made with spices such as Adobo and Goya onion. Picadillo, ground beef that has been sauteed with tomato, green peppers, green olives, and garlic is another popular Cuban dish. It can be served with black beans and rice, and a side of deep-fried, ripened plantains.

Beverages[link]

Materva

Cubans often drink cafe cubano: a small cup of coffee called a cafecito (or a colada), which is traditional espresso coffee, sweetened with sugar, with a little foam on top called espumita. It is also popular to add milk, which is called a cortadito for a small cup or a cafe con leche for a larger cup.

A common soft drink is Materva, a Cuban soda made of yerba mate. Jupiña, Ironbeer and Cawy lemon-lime are soft drinks which originated in Cuba. Since the Castro era, they are also produced in Miami. Other famous Cuban drinks include guarapo de caña.

Demographics[link]

The ancestry of Cuban Americans comes primarily from Spain.^[27]

During the 18th, 19th and early part of the 20th century, large waves of Castilians, Basques, Canarians, Catalans, Andalusians, and Galicians emigrated to Cuba. Much of Haiti's white population (French) migrated to Cuba after the Haitian War of Independence in the early 18th century. Also, minor but significant ethnic influx is derived from diverse peoples from Middle East places such as Lebanon and Palestine. There was also a significant influx of Jews, especially between the World Wars, from many countries, including Sephardi Jews from Turkey and Ashkenazi Jews from Poland, Germany and Russia. Other Europeans that have contributed slightly include Italians, Germans, Swedes, and Hungarians. Many Chinese also settled Cuba as contract laborers and they formerly boast the largest Chinatown in Western Hemisphere as most Chinese Cubans left for Florida.

US Census and ACS[link]

In the most recent census in 2000 there were 1,241,685 Cuban Americans, both native and foreign born and represented 3.5% of all Hispanics in the US. About 85% of Cuban Americans identify themselves as being White, mostly Spanish, which is the highest proportion of all other major Hispanic groups. In Florida, Cuban Americans have cultural ties with the state's large Spanish American or European Spanish community. In the 2007 ACS, there were 1,611,478 Americans with national origins in Cuba. 983,147 were born abroad in Cuba, 628,331 were U.S born and of the 1.6 million, 415,212 were not U.S citizens.^[28]

Economics[link]

The median household income for Cuban Americans is $36,671, a figure higher than all other Hispanic groups, but lower than for non-Hispanic whites.

In contrast, US-born Cuban Americans have a higher median income than even non-Hispanic whites, $50,000 as compared to $48,000 for non-Hispanic whites.^[29]

Education[link]

25% of Cuban Americans have a college education, about twice the average of all other Hispanic groups with Dominican Americans trailing by a close 22%, and lower than that of non-Hispanic whites, of which 30% are college graduates.^[29]

However, 39% of US-born Cuban Americans have a college degree or higher, as compared to only 30% of non-Hispanic whites.^[29]

Religion[link]

Being of primarily Spanish extraction, most Cuban Americans are Roman Catholic, but some Cubans practice African traditional religions (such as Santería or Ifá), which evolved from mixing the Catholic religion with the traditional African religion. However, there are many Protestant (primarily Pentecostal) with small numbers of syncretist, nonreligious or tiny communities of Muslim and Jewish Cuban Americans.

	United States portal
	Cuba portal

See also[link]

• Cubans
• List of Cuban Americans
• Cuban British
• White Cuban
• Spanish American
• Afro-Cuban
• Hispanos
• White Hispanic
• White Latin American
• Black Hispanic
• Afro Latin American
• Hyphenated American
• Cuba-United States relations
• History of Ybor City
• Cuban exile
• U.S. embargo against Cuba
• Diaspora politics in the United States

References and further reading[link]

• Miguel A. De La Torre, "La Lucha for Cuba: Religion and Politics on the Streets of Miami", University of California Press, 2003.

External links[link]

• Immigration Law and the Racialization of Latina/Latino
• Cuban Americans can go Home More Easily Under Obama Rules by William E. Gibson, Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2009
• Long Islanders of Cuban Descent see Glimmer of Hope by Zachary Dowdy, Newsday, April 13, 2009
• Cuban American Travel to Cuba on the Rise by Marc Frank, Reuters, May 6, 2009
• Expats Flock to Cuba as U.S. Reforms Spark A Party by Andres Schipani, The Observer, May 31, 2009
• The Cuban Heritage Collection at The University of Miami
• Cubans in Miami, an historical perspective

Further reading[link]

• Diaz, Carmen (2008) (in Spanish). Siete jornadas en Miami (1ra ed.). Miami, FL: Alexandria Library. ISBN 978-1-934804-26-1.  Interviews with Cuban-American women in Miami about Cuban-American identity.

v t e Cuba–United States relations Bay of Pigs Invasion · Brothers to the Rescue · Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba · Cuban American · Cuban-American lobby · Cuban dissident movement · Cuban Five · Cuban Missile Crisis · Elián González affair · Guantanamo Bay Naval Base · Helms–Burton Act · List of Cuba – United States aircraft hijackings · Luis Posada Carriles · Mariel boatlift · Operation Northwoods · Operation Peter Pan · Platt Amendment · Spanish–American War · United States Ambassador to Cuba · United States embargo against Cuba · United States Interests Section in Havana