NUEVO LAREDO, Tamaulipas — The dream of arriving to the U.S. under the Wet Foot-Dry Foot policy has turned into a nightmare after hundreds of Cubans have been left stranded at the Texas-Mexico border. The islanders have a 20-day permit from the Mexican government to travel north that leaves them subject to deportation thereafter.
More than 50 Cubans currently stuck in this border city are left only to hope that President-Elect Donald Trump shortly reverses the recent decision imposed by President Barack Obama that ended the fast-tracked naturalization process for Cuban refugees. Some of the Cubans who spoke with Breitbart Texas expressed their surprise and disappointment upon learning that U.S. authorities would not let them enter the country legally.
“A new president that wants to help the oppressed people of Cuba is our only hope,” said Carlos Martin, a stranded Cuban refugee. “We have nothing and we can not go back; it was a very radical decision.”
Similar to the situation in Nuevo Laredo, in the border state of Nuevo León local authorities are preparing for hundreds of Cuban families to arrive with underage children as they attempt to reach Tamaulipas and eventually pass to Texas before their permits expire. The 20-day permits are given to the Cubans by Mexico’s National Immigration Institute, granting them a temporary stay in the country after which they must leave the country. The permit has generally been used by migrants from a variety of nations to make their way to a northern border checkpoint.
“Many here think that the new Trump government will open the doors to the Cubans who arrive at the international bridges,” a Mexican immigration agent from Nuevo León told Breitbart Texas, “For them this is their only option, they don’t have money and they can’t return to Cuba.”
As Breitbart Texas reported, the new immigration policy by Obama paints a target on the Cubans who will likely be sought by criminal organizations or law enforcement once their permit expires.
Tony Aranda is a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.
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