Illegal migration from Cuba hits an all-time high
Illegal migration from Cuba to US has hit an all-time high. Within a period between December 2021 and 2022 there were 227,000 instances of Cubans illegally entering US territory. The figure logged by US border authorities far exceeds two previous figures the Mariel boatlift, when 125,000 Cubans left for the United States in 1980, and the 1994 departure of 34,000 people to US shores within a month, said Jorge Duany, a Cuba expert at Florida International University. Duany was quoted by news agency AFP.
There has always been an exodus of people from Cuba to the United States. Cuba, an impoverished nation, is a Communist state.
In Cuba, “you lose hope,” said 34-year-old David Gonzalez. He was quoted by AFP. Gonzalez is an illegal migrant.
Gonzalez’s journey started with a flight to Nicaragua.
The government of the Central American country, an ally of the Havana regime, removed visa requirements for Cubans in November 2021, making Managua the first stop on the road to the United States for most migrants from the island.
The journey cost Gonzalez some $7,000: $3,500 for the airfare and another $3,500 for smugglers to take him overland from Nicaragua to the United States — a huge sum for the average Cuban salary of 3,768 pesos a month, about $157.
Gonzalez scrounged half the money by selling his motorcycle and other belongings. A friend sent him the rest from Miami.
From his 30-day trip through Central America and Mexico, he remembers above all the long rides with dozens of people crammed on a bus or in the back of a truck.
But it wasn’t the prospect of thirst, lack of air, unbearable heat during the day and biting cold at night that scared him the most on the journey.
“My biggest fear was that I would be deported to Cuba,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
