Cuba Migration
During the Castro regime, a lot of Cubans migrated in the first decade of exile. Most of them were against the term immigrants because they claim the main reason for migration was due to a lack of another choice. The major claim for leaving their country was the political, social, and economic chaos that lead to most of them suffering. The first wave who left the island were prominent people who were tied to the government including the political leaders and government officials. Those not tied to the government left to the united states in 1962. They included factory employees and the artisans. The paper will give an analysis of the nature of the Cuban migration.
The Cubans would leave the island by first requesting a permit. However, most of them were afraid because their permits would be denied. Some of the migrants would, therefore, decide to stay in foreign embassies. Some would even be in the embassies for up to two years. They arrived in America by sailing to Florida (Fandl,81). They got help from the Catholic church which was the major source of assistance for the migrants. They were offered job referrals, day nurseries, and education programs for their children. They, therefore, became more concentrated in Miami and Dade County. The Freedom Tower which was in downtown Miami was a building established as a Refugee Emergency Center for Cuban immigrants. They were offered various programs including the Postgraduate Medical Program. The program entailed a sixteen-week course for the Cuban doctor in Spanish. Another program was the teaching Aid program which was established to help the Spanish speaking children.
Several reasons led to the Cubans migrating to Florida. The first reason was the good climate that would favor the Cubans. The other reason was that Florida was a very easy destination to get to and from their country. Ride for Havana to Miami took less than an hour and therefore it was not very costly. Therefore, in case of any Chaos arising in Florida, the immigrants could go back to their country easily. Lastly was due to the availability of the Radio signals from Cuba. Due to this people would be able to communicate and easily get updated on what was happening in Cuba while they were in South Florida.
The Cubans were faced with a lot of obstacles while in the United States. The first was a lack of effective communication. Most of the Cubans had a problem with language and this made it had to communicate with their employers for the few that were employed (Fandl, 81). The second hurdle was the lack of employment. The main reason was that they did not have the license required to practice because Fidel Castrol did not allow them to carry their transcript. Lack of the needed document led to most of them becoming unemployed hence unable to provide for their families. Lastly was the competition that arose due to job shortage. Most of the residents in the United States complained due to a lack of Jobs. They claimed their jobs had been taken by the Cubans who were willing to get employed at a lower salary. The Cubans also inspired the resentment of Miamians. The main cause of this was that the Cubans were disrespectful to the American laws. They did not adhere to the American Laws and therefore most of the residents complained about them. Some of the laws that they did not follow were the traffic laws and this became a major issue for the resident. Then Cubans were also said to be rude and therefore hard to deal with. There were also claims that the Cubans were the first to always get aid from the government. It was not until later on that these services started being extended to the needy Americans.
The second wave of the Cuban migrants was in 1965 when Fidel Castro announced that the Cubans were allowed to leave if they had relatives in America. The emigrants took this chance to leave for America using all transportation available then (Fandl, 81). Training for Independence which was mandatory got established. The training entailed gaining skills in communication, domestic services, and office machine operations. The third wave arrived in the USA in the 1980s. Later on, there were successful dialogues that led to the release of the political prisoners. Thus, the United States became the largest home of the Cubans.
In conclusion, the Cubans migrated to the United States in three waves. They had to request for permits before migrating. However, they were faced with a lot of hurdles including communication, lack of employment, and the high rate of competition with the resident. They choose Florida because of the good climate, the availability of the Radio signals from Cuba, and the short distance which allowed them to go back to their country in case chaos arose. Us thus became the largest home for the Cubans who migrated from their country due to political, social, and economic chaos.
Work cited
Fandl, Kevin J. “Cuban migration to the United States in a post-normalized relations World.” Minn. J. Int’l L. 26 (2017): 81.