Speech #1140085641

I talked about yesterday. Let me back up and explain what people are facing. Today. if an immigrant enters the United States from another country legally and comes here on a green card. with 5year residency. they cannot receive Federal benefits. If you immigrate to the United States from any country in the world with an immigrant visa legallynot illegal immigration. as illegal immigrants do not qualify for Federal benefitsa legal immigrant to the United States does not qualify for any Federal benefits. There is an exception in the law. however. and that is if you happen to be someone who comes from Cuba without a visa. There is a law called the Cuban Adjustment Act. When the Cuban Adjustment Act was passed during the Cold War. it was passed so that Cubans who came to the United States fleeing communist oppression were immediately admitted to the United States. In essence. that is why there is really no such thing as an illegal immigrant from Cuba. If a Cuban makes it to the shores of the United States. they become legal in this country. and a year and a day after they have arrived. they are allowed to apply for a green card. But unlike any immigrant from any part of the world. they are allowed to receive Federal benefits because they are automatically presumed to be refugees. That is a status that I am not trying to change in terms of the Cuban Adjustment Act. I have said that I am open to that being examined. but I am not trying to change that law in my amendment. I do want to discuss why we should automatically assume at this point that anyone who comes from Cuba is a political refugee. The reason why that now is in doubt is because many of the people who are coming from Cuba. supposedly as refugees seeking to flee oppression. are traveling back to Cuba 15. 20. 30 times a year. There are people being oppressed politically in Cuba. absolutely. It is one of the reasons why I think the Presidents policies toward Cuba have been misguided. because they refuse to see that even after this opening to Cuba. the political situation on the island has deteriorated. It has gotten worse. not better. There are absolutely people from Cuba who are coming here as refugees. But we also cannot ignore the fact that many of the people coming from Cuba no longer are coming here for political reasons. The evidence is that shortly after they arrive. they are going back to Cuba 15. 20. 30 times a year. You do not normally travel back to a place where you are fleeing from oppression. much less repeatedly over an extended period of time. So as a result. we now have a law that basically says that if you come from Cuba. you are automatically entitled to a full platform of Federal benefits. This is how the article begins: Cuban immigrants are cashing in on U.S. welfare and returning to the island. making a mockery of the decadesold premise that they are refugees fleeing persecution at home.... Cubans unique access to food stamps. disability money. and other welfare is meant to help them build new lives in America. Yet these days. its helping some finance their lives on the communist island.