15 Cubans Who Got to Fla. Bridge Sent Home

[stevedeshazer]

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago

MIAMI - Fifteen Cubans who fled their homeland and landed on an abandoned bridge piling in the Florida Keys were returned to their homeland Monday after U.S. officials concluded that the structure did not constitute dry land.
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Under the U.S. government's "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, Cubans who reach dry land in the United States are usually allowed to remain in this country, while those caught at sea are sent back.

The Cubans — including a 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy — were sent back around midday, said a Coast Guard spokesman, Officer Dana Warr. They were rescued last week and were held aboard a Coast Guard cutter while they awaited a final decision on their status.

The case presented U.S. officials with an intriguing legal question, and the way it was handled outraged some Cuban American leaders in Florida.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060109/ap_on_re_us/cubans_dry_land;_ylt=AkhKDlDX4o4.YLiyhYddnAus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-

[Az_lefty]

1. how come president dim-wit hates their freedom?

[ovidsen]

2. Were any of the kids named Elian?

The Repukes who condemned Clinton and Reno for sending Elian Gonzalez back are so quiet!

Their silence is deafening.

[stevedeshazer]

4. That was my reaction, too

All these Florida Cuban exiles have backed the Bushies for decades. Now their guy is turning them away?

[Mika]

9. They have? NOT!

Don't assume anything about 'Murican politics.

There's campaign money to be had by both Dems and repukes for touting the anti Cuba policy for 45+ years.



charts from opensecrets.org

[stevedeshazer]

12. Thanks

I had a false impression. You helped clear it up.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Truly a bizarre policy

What other country in the world has anything similar?

[stevedeshazer]

5. USA = #1

At least we're still first in something. :eyes:

[Clutch Cargo]

6. All illegal immigrants should be returned to their

country of origin. Flame away.

[stevedeshazer]

7. I trust you are Native American, then?

After all, thaey had bad immigration laws, too.

[Clutch Cargo]

8. No, I'm not Native American. Does that matter? n/t

[Mika]

10. Agreed. If they don't have a legitimate asylum claim. n/t

[ugarte]

11. I'm with you, to a point

Cubans should be treated the same as Mexicans and anybody else.

[dehaiti]

13. Good

They should be treated like my Haitian brothers and sisters.

[IndianaGreen]

14. Cubans should be treated the same as Mexicans and Haitians

These poor people are fleeing economic conditions that are solely cause by US aggression against Cuba, then they are seduced by tales of wealth and riches that they hear on Voice of America and Radio Marti, so they embark on a dangerous journey to America.

The real scandal is that anyone that wants to leave Cuba legally can do so. The only problem lies in the US Charge de Affairs in Havana, that has been sitting on several years of backlog on visa applications by Cubans to enter the US. It is not Cuba that is keeping people from leaving, it is the US that is doing that.

Should we mention Operation Pedro Pan? The CIA program to separate Cuban families from their children in order to create social discord back in the 1960s.