Speech #1000027036

I rise to introduce a bill along with Senators GRAssLEy and CHILES to ease the entry of Cubans into the United States and to thereby correct an injustice that has been done to victims of Castros tyranny. The bill will eliminate barriers to Cuban entry into the United States that have arisen as a result of the breakdown of the Mariel Migration Agreement. It directs the Immigration and Naturalization Service to process current and former Cuban political prisoners as refugees for entry into this country when they have served any amount of time in Castros jails. Under our current policy. they must serve more than 10 years. It also directs the Immigration and Naturalization Service to restore normal Cuban immigration from Cuba and third countries to the United States. instead of allowing immigration only under certain narrow circumstances. Some background on the Mariel Migration Agreement is useful for understanding why this bill is necessary. On December 14. 1984. the United States and Cuba signed the Marlel Agreement which attempted to resolve immigration problems between the two countries. In that agreement. Cuba promised to take back 2.746 Cubans who came over from the port of Mariel.