14ymedio, Havana, 20 August 2023 — Between January 5 and July of 2023, more than 41,000 Cubans have benefited from humanitarian parole. According to figures published by the United States Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), in total, “more than 181,000 natives of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have arrived legally under this process.”
Meanwhile, 34,000 Nicaraguans, 63,000 Venezuelans and 72,000 Haitians have also benefited.
According to official statistics, in July alone, 7,486 Cubans were registered by the border authorities at U.S. entry posts. The arrival of natives of the Island totaled 171,958 in the last nine months.
After finalizing Title 42 last May – a rule created by the Trump Administration for the return of migrants during the pandemic – Washington decided in January to open the same program it had implemented with Ukraine and Venezuela to applicants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua to grant “humanitarian parole.” To take advantage of it, those interested need to have a sponsor to endorse their support in the country, and the documentation must be delivered from outside the United States.
The CBP statement reported that with the implementation of the program for the citizens of Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua, announced by U.S. President Joe Biden, irregular migration has been significantly reduced.
This information was released a few days after the NGO Proyecto Migrantes Desaparecidos [Missing Migrants Project] documented the death in the first half of the year of 71 Cubans, including 27 men, six women and 38 others of undetermined gender (due to the condition of their bodies), who tried to reach the United States by sea.
“Rarely do you know exactly how many people were on board boats that were in trouble on the high seas, complicating the task of verifying the number of people who disappeared or of having some kind of information about their identities,” the organization emphasizes.
The report says that 69 of these rafters died “from drowning” in their attempt to achieve the American dream. One died due to “extreme environmental conditions” and for another there were no precise details about the cause of his death.
Since last October 1st, 6,967 Cuban rafters attempting to reach the U.S. have been intercepted by the Coast Guard.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
