In just two years, more than half a million Cubans came to the United States. The last census represents an alarming figure of 4.8% of the 11.1 million people recorded on the island. However, the total of 533 thousand does not accurately reflect reality. Because?
It turns out that the number of entries with other types of visa is not taken into account here. As he recalled, no official statistics were available on this aspect. AFP After analyzing data from several federal agencies.
On the topic of questioning, last week it was announced that more than 153 thousand Cubans entered US soil irregularly in 2023. He freedom It was issued by the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
To this total arrival recorded last year, we must add another 67 thousand arrivals of Cubans who flew directly to the United States.
In this case, these trips were made through the humanitarian parole program implemented a year ago by the administration of President Joe Biden.
Entry of Undocumented Immigrants in 2022
In 2022, official data reflects that 313 thousand undocumented Cubans entered the United States. The issue and the statistics, after all, never cease to amaze experts on immigration issues.
For example, George Duaney, director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, expressed his opinion regarding Cuban immigration to the United States.
“This represents the largest number of Cuban immigrants recorded in two consecutive years since the beginning of the post-revolutionary Cuban exodus in 1959.”
The current migration crisis precedes the exodus of approximately 300,000 Cubans between 1960 and 1963.
Something similar happened in Mariel in the 1980s, when 130,000 people left the island. Then, there was the Rafters crisis in 1994, which led to the expulsion of about 35,000 Cubans from the country.