Speech #1140096537

Mr. President. I came to the floor a few weeks ago to bring to peoples attention an abuse that is occurring in our welfare system. and it involves Cuban immigration. Let me describe the situation we face today. If an immigrant comes to the United States from Cuba legally. entering the United States from another countrylet me rephrase that. If an immigrant legally enters the United States from any country in the world. except for Cuba or Haiti. they cannot immediately receive Federal benefits. If you are a legal immigrant and came to the United States from Venezuela. Mexico. or Japanyou did your paperwork and paid your feesyou do not qualify for any Federal benefits for the first 5 years you are in this country. However. there is an exception for people who come from Cuba. Under the Cuban Adjustment Act. anyone who comes from Cuba legally or illegallyif you cross the border and say "I am a Cuban"-you are immediately accepted into the United States legally. I am not here today to talk about changing that status. even though there is a significant migratory crisis that is building. and I do think that issue needs to be reexamined. Here is the exception to the law: If you come to the United States from Cuba. whether you entered across the border or entered on a visa. you are one of the only immigrants in America who immediately and automatically qualifies for Federal benefits. You dont have to prove you are a refugee or prove you are fleeing oppression. You dont have to prove anything. You are automatically assumed to be a political refugee and given not just status in the United States but a series of public benefits. For decades this has been because U.S. law made the presumption that if you were leaving Cuba to come to the United States. you were obviously a refugee. I believe for a lot of people who are still coming that is true because they are fleeing a horrible and oppressive regime and have had nowhere else to go because in many cases they fear for their lives in Cuba. For some time now. there has been growing doubt about whether all of the people who are now coming from Cuba are. in fact. fleeing oppression. Or are they increasingly becoming more like an economic refugee? From what we see in South Florida with our own eyes and also because of the investigative reporting by the South Florida SunSentinel. we know there are growing abuses to this benefit. The reason is that many people who are coming from Cuba. supposedly as refugees seeking to flee oppression. are now traveling back to Cuba 15. 20. or 30 times a year. That raises an alarm right away. If you are entering the United States and immediately and automatically given status as refugeesin addition. you are being given access to a full portfolio of Federal benefitsbecause you are supposedly fleeing oppression. but then traveling back to Cuba 15. 20. or 30 times a year in many cases. it causes us to have a serious doubt about whether everyone who is coming here from Cuba should be considered a refugee for purposes of benefits. but today they are. Even at this very moment. we are seeing a historic increase in the number of people who are originally from Cuba crossing the MexicanU.S. border. We have seen an increase in the number of rafters. Last week there was a standoff between the Coast Guard and some Cuban migrants who went up to a lighthouse and wouldnt come down because they wanted to get the status under the wetfoot. dryfoot policy. I think we can debate that issue. I am not here today to propose changes to the status. but I do think we have to ask ourselves: What about the Federal benefits? What about the benefits they are collecting which are specifically and exclusively intended for refugees and refugees only? Obviously. if you are traveling back to Cuba over and over again. you are not a refugee and therefore should not be eligible for these benefits. The abuses we have now seen are extensive. The stories of people who are actually living in Cubathey are living in Cuba but collecting government benefits in America. and their family is wiring the money to them.