MIAMI.- Daniella Levine Cava, mayor of Miami-Dade County, addressed a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States where she urged him to authorize the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service, the Border Patrol and the Citizenship and Immigration to retroactively issue a parole that allows adjustment under the Cuban Adjustment Act, to tens of thousands of immigrants from the island who are currently in legal limbo in the United States.
The letter that Mayor Levine Cava addressed to Secretary Mayorkas on December 12 reads as follows:
“Dear Secretary Mayorkas,
On behalf of our Miami-Dade community, I thank you for your continued commitment to defending democracy around the world, and especially for the recent decision to redesignate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for
Venezuelans, a fundamental measure to provide relief to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing a brutal dictatorship.
Miami-Dade County has a strong and deep history of welcoming those who come to our shores in search of freedom and opportunity. More than half of our residents are immigrants and many have been escaping oppression and dictatorship, to start businesses, strengthen our democracy and contribute to our thriving local economy. We are especially proud that our community was built largely by Cubans fleeing a repressive communist regime and that we continue to welcome them.
Unfortunately, many Cubans who have recently arrived in our community were not as lucky as those who came before and are now forced to live in limbo – without authorization to stay here and without real options to return to Cuba’s oppressive regime. where their lives and livelihoods are at risk.
I am writing to urge you to authorize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the US Border Patrol (CBP) and Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) to issue a valid retroactive parole document to allow for adjustment of status. under the Cuban Adjustment Act, to tens of thousands of Cuban immigrants who have recently resettled in our community after being processed and released at the border by the Department of Homeland Security.
Upon release, these Cuban immigrants were not issued conditional parole documents as they had been for decades, due to a policy change with the termination of the Cuban Parole Program on January 12, 2017. Many have made their home in Miami-Dade and have important skills needed to help our dynamic economy continue to grow. They all have strong asylum claims, but due to long processing periods they will have to wait years, if not decades, for their claims to be resolved. This instability is harming families in our community, creating an obstacle to a thriving economy, and straining our safety net of social services.
As mayor, I am proud to have worked so closely with the Biden administration to help Miami-Dade County prosper and continue to open doors to those seeking freedom and opportunity. On behalf of Miami-Dade families, I ask you to help our community avoid a worsening of the crisis by making this critical change to provide more stability for recent Cuban immigrants.”
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@menendezpryce
