“The Cold War impact on U.S. Immigration policy towards Latin Americans”

1. “The Cold War impact on U.S. Immigration policy towards Latin Americans” Alba Hesselroth Yale-Georgetown 2009 Summer Institute “Latin America and the Cold War” New Haven, July 10 2009

2. Issues and time frames to be taken into consideration

3. Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, January 1989. Unemployment for hispanic women (1988)

4. 1988: Unemployment for Hispanic women compared to other groups

6. Patterns in unemployment for Hispanic women

7. 1980: Education/ rate of graduation among Hispanic women 25 years and over • One third of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans had graduated from high school in 1980. • Cuban women surpassed their other Hispanic counterparts with a 53 % graduation rate in 1980.

8. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, The Hispanic Population in the United States: March 1988 Employment FOR women of hispanic origin

9. Occupations of Employed Women, by Hispanic Origin, March 1988 (Percent distribution)

10. Occupations of Employed Women, by Hispanic Origin, March 1988 (%: Percent distribution)

11. 2000: Percent of Population with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher by Hispanic Origin

12. Unemployment rate among Hispanics 2006/2007Source: US Bureau Labor Statistics

13. April 2007: Unemployment rateSource: US Bureau Labor Statistics • The U.S. Hispanic unemployment rate jumped to 6.9% in April from 5.5% . • Cubans had the lowest unemployment rate which is comparable to general rates of unemployment of the total civilian labor force.

14. Median household income in the USA Source: http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/23.pdf

15. Median household income in the USAComparison between native-born Cubans and White non-hispanic

16. Median household income in the USA Foreign-born Cubans

17. Poverty rates among Hispanic people. Poverty rates for Cubans are generally lower than for other Hispanics

18. National IndicatorsSource: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March2004, Ethnic and Hispanic Statistics Branch, Population Division • 41% of Latino households make $25,000 or less compared to 19% of Whites. • Excluding from these data the Cuban households in Miami (a much more affluent community) the percentage of Latino households making $25,000 or less increases almost to 50%.

19. Cubans in the USASource: http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/23.pdf • Compared with the rest of the Hispanic population in the United States, Cubans: - have a higher level of education - higher median household income - higher rate of home ownership.

20. Cubans in the USASource: http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/23.pdf • With respect to other Hispanics: As a group Cubans in the USA are distinct in many ways from the rest of the Hispanic population. • Within the “Cuban” category: There are important differences among Cubans, particularly between those who arrived before 1980 and those who arrived in subsequent years.

21. Puzzles: - Why do cubans in the USA have a better economic position compared to other hispanic groups? - Why do significant differences exist between cubans that arrived before 1980s and those that arrived later?

22. Geography counts…

23. Significant Cuban migrations to the USA

24. Prior to the Cuban Revolution – Fidel Castro regime/Cold WarSignificant Cuban Migrations • 1890s during the War of Independence (Spanish American War) • 1930s during the Machado Government (Menocal and Prio Supporters) • 1950s during the Batista Government (Castro and Prio supporters)

25. 1959: Cuban Revolution, turning pointFrom then onwards: 4 important migration waves during the Castro government • 1959- After the Castro revolution • 1965-1973   Freedom Flights • 1980   Mariel Boatlif • 1989 Ongoing migration

26. U.S. policy towards Cubans after 1959 • Throughout all four phases, U.S. policy has been far more welcoming towards Cubans than to any other migrants from Latin America. • Virtually all Cuban migrants have been admitted under a special parole power exercised by the U.S. Attorney General that immediately grants them full legal status and puts them on a path to U.S. citizenship. • Currently, Cuban migrants apprehended at sea are returned to Cuba while those who are able to reach U.S. soil are allowed to stay.

27. 1959- Immediately After the Castro revolution

28. 1959- Immediately after the Castro revolution - Elite emigration: supporters of Batista and wealthy people (white and highly educated).

29. 1959- After the Castro revolution • 1959: number of Cubans in the USA: 124,000 • After 1959: initial exodus, primarily wealthy Cubans • Also upper-middle class families. • During the early years of the revolutionary period, about 215,000 Cubans immigrated to the U.S. • 31% of Cubans that migrated to the U.S. were professional or managers.

30. March 1960: Eisenhower government invokes the Mutual Security Act • Tremendous impact: - Recognition of Cuba as a communist state - Cubans are thus recognized as “Exiles”

31. Kennedy Administration: assertive role in refugee relief efforts • 1966: Establishment of the “Cuban Refugee Program” (CRP) • First time after World War II that the government gave monetary assistance for refugee resettlement which included: - monthly relief checks - health services - job training - adult educational opportunities – English classes, Professional certification - Partial funding to Dade County Public Schools System to help to accommodate more than 3,500 Cuban refugee children in 1961

32. “Operacion Pedro Pan” Peter Pan Operation. The Cuban children’s exodus December 1960 - October 1962, more than 14,000 Cuban youths arrived alone in the US. It was the largest recorded exodus of unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere

33. Second wave: 1965-1973   Freedom Flights and illegal immigration

34. April 1965-September 1966:   Freedom Flights • 1965: Camarioca port => State Department Sealift • Orderly departure programs administered by the U.S and Cuban governments. Bilateral arrangement. • Preference: familiar unification • Twice flights per day, 3,000 to 4,000 Cubans each month • Total: 3,048 flights that carried 297, 318 refugees to the US • Emigration restrictions imposed by Cuba on certain types of skilled labor and men of military age

35.    Freedom Flights • More mixed population emigrated from Cuba to the USA (middle class, working class people). • By 1970: 12% professionals or managers, 57% blue collar, service, or agricultural workers, from different parts of Cuba. • Women overrepresented. • Blacks underrepresented.

36. Late 1970s • By mid-1970s: US Cuban Refugee Program had spent over US$957 million in resettlement, relief, and other services. • Clandestine emigration • 1972: reunification, 50,000 Cubans from Spain • By September 1977, total number of Cubans that arrived to the US since January 1959: 665,043

37. Impact of Cold War on Latino Political Mobilization and Community Organizing in the USA • 1960s: - In California, Chicanas actively participated in the UFW, while East Los Angeles Latina activists worked for social change, Puerto Ricans for defense of civil rights. - Cuban women also organized: Hijas del Pueblo in New Orleans and the Junta Patriotica de Damas de Nueva York. - Later: Union de Mujeres, the Cruzada Femenina Cubana, Movimiento Femenino Anticomunista de Cuba, Organizacion de Damas Anticomunistas Cubanas (Perez, 1986: 126-37)

38. 1980: The mariel Boatlift

39. The Mariel exodus

40. Precedent: late 1970s events • 1970s: Thawing in tensions Cuba - USA. • 1977: diplomatic relations w/ creation of “interest sections” in Washington and Havana. Cultural exchanges followed. • 1978: over 100,000 Cuban exiles were allowed to visit families and friends in Cuba. • 1979: The Castro government released over 4,000 political prisoners and allowed them to emigrate.

41. Precedent: late 1970s events • The “blue jean revolution” - Contact between Cubans in the homeland and exiles and Americans in the US had a boomerang effect. - Many Cubans’ basic beliefs about their society and about life in the US were challenged. - Discontent increased and attempts to leave the island too. -1979-1980: 30 Cubans smuggled themselves in Latin American embassies seeking asylum

42. The Peruvian incident • April 4, 1980: 10,800 Cubans moved into the grounds of the Peruvian Embassy in Havana, after the Cuban Government guards were removed from the Peruvian Embassy. 

43. The Peruvian embassy incident Source: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/mariel-exodus.htm

44. Two important outcomes: • Air lift from third countries: Cubans arriving in San Jose, Costa Rica, and Madrid, Spain, shared with the world media the horrors lived while at the Embassy.  This exposure generated a negative opinion for the aging Cuban Revolution. • The Mariel migration began: Fidel Castro announced the opening of the Port of Mariel and invited Cubans in America to come to pick-up their relatives from the Cuba. 

45. The Mariel exodus: a chaotic, highly controversial, distinct migration • Unilateral. • Human avalanche, unprecedented numbers and composition: - During May: 88,817 Cubans left Cuba, 14,000 per week. - As of Sept. 1980: 125,000 Cubans came to the USA. - The Marielitos, came from virtually every segment of Cuban society, including the poor. Many were black. - Individuals released from jails and mental institutions by became part of the human flow that migrated to the US.  • US national perceptions of the Cuban exile community were forever altered.

46. The Mariel migration. Impact in Cuba • Those that wanted to migrate were harassed by the Cuban government. • The Mariel exodus alleviated serious internal administrative and economic problems. Cuba exported a high risk population to the U.S. 

47. Impact on the USA • President Carter stated:  "We will continue to provide an open heart and open arms to refugees seeking freedom from Communist domination."  • Hundreds of people continued arriving in Key West and other parts of Florida.  FEMA opened four refugee camps in Florida, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin • opened four refugee camps in Florida, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin

48. “Marielos” in the USA • Ethnic relations deteriorated in the wake of the boatlift: - Marielos (mainly “Black” and poor) were discriminated by other Cubans. - Anti-Cuban sentiment: African Americans rioted, voters repealed Bilingual-Bicultural Ordinance. • Mainstream US press exaggerated on the “Crime bomb” by Fidel Castro. • The increase of criminal activity (in Florida) was often blamed on the Mariel refugees. 

49. “Marielos” in the USA • As of December 26, 1981, of 163 Cubans charged an/or convicted felons housed in Dade County's main jail: - 103 or 63.9% are Mariel refugees - 11 or 6.8% are Cuban ex- political prisoners - 47 or 29.1% are Cuban-Americans.  (Unzueta) http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0033.html

50. “Marielos” in the USA • Legally, the individuals coming in the Mariel Flotilla were granted the new administrative category of "entrant".  • This technicality rendered them ineligible for assistance available through the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980.  • The Fascell - Stone Amendment to the Refugee Act of 1980: special funding was authorized, in the form of cash assistance, reached the entrants during the latter part of February 1981. http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0033.html