Feb 25, 2008 11:13 am US/Eastern
FAST FACTS: Wet Foot-Dry Foot Policy
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MIAMI (CBS4) ―
FAST FACTS: Wet Foot-Dry Foot Policy
Under the U.S. government's policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to remain in the United States, while those stopped at sea are sent back.
The controversial policy got its name as a consequence of the 1995 revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that says anyone who fled Cuba and got into the U.S. would be allowed to pursue residency a year later.
After talks with the Cuban government, the Clinton administration came to an agreement with Cuba that it would stop admitting people found at sea. Since then, in what has become known as the "wet foot-dry foot" policy, a Cuban caught on the waters between the two nations (i.e., with "wet feet") would summarily be sent home or to a third country. A person who makes it to shore ("dry feet") gets a chance to remain in the United States, and later would qualify for expedited "legal permanent resident" status and U.S. citizenship.
There have been several highly publicized events that has provoked outrage over the wet foot-dry foot policy.
In June 1999, officers with the U.S. Coast Guard pepper sprayed and shot with a water cannon at several Cubans to prevent them from reaching Surfside Beach. A few weeks later, a Cuban woman drowned when a boat capsized during interdiction.
In November 1999, the controversy stirred again when the U.S. Coast Guard brought 6-year old Elian Gonzalez and two other survivors of an ill-fated journey to the U.S. rather then taking them back to Cuba.
In January 2006, 15 Cubans found on the pilings of an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys were repatriated. The old bridge had been cut off from land and the U.S. Coast Guard ruled that since the Cubans could not walk to land, their feet were still "wet".
That decision to repatriate the Cubans enraged parts of the South Florida Cuban community, and prompted Cuban-American activist, Ramon Saul Sanchez, to stage a hunger strike which ended only when the White House agreed to examine the policy which sent the Cubans back to the island.
On February 28, 2006, a federal judge ruled that the United States government had acted unreasonably when it sent home the 15 Cubans. The judge ordered the government to make its best effort to help the immigrants return to the United States. 14 of the 15 Cubans re-landed on December 15, 2006 and were given migrant visas.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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