MIAMI. – The rule that the Cuban regime proposes in the new Migration Law project, of giving a status of “resident abroad” to those who until now have been considered “emigrants” has very clear purposes of controlling communities outside the Island. , say experts consulted by DIARIO LAS AMERICAS.
The dictatorship reserves the right to decide who can or cannot opt for this supposed benefit, thereby limiting the integration of Cubans in exile with “legislative hooks” that seek to favor the Communist Party and not the people, analysts agreed.
Regarding what the draft of the new immigration law that offers another “window” for the figure of an emigrant really means, the secretary general of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC), Orlando Gutierrez Boronat said ““The regime seeks to control Cuban communities outside the Island, closing the alternative space that constitutes exile.”.
The bill states that Cuban citizens who currently have emigration status may request in writing that their status as residents abroad be reconsidered, but this is not done automatically; they must first meet the requirements set out in the regulations and wait for their approval.
In the opinion of Gutiérrez Boronat, it is established in this way a control “to hinder integration into a single force, between the Cubans who are now leaving the country and the historical exile.”
The Cuban Ministry of the Interior said that the new legislative project aims to “establish the bases aimed at regulating an updated immigration system that corresponds to the constitutional postulates (…)”. Faced with this position, the analyst and academic highlighted that The regime needs to feed economically on the population without this affecting it politically and that is why the new announcements.
In this sense, activist Gutiérrez Boronat agrees with those who have pointed out that the regime’s interest is that a good part of the emigrants, in addition to sending remittances to their families, save Cuba’s economy with their investments.
Currently, Cubans who leave the country and do not return within 24 months lose their resident status and with it, many rights inherent to property, which was eliminated in the bill.
Regarding the proposal that it will not be necessary to reside in Cuba to inherit property on the Island, Gutiérrez Boronat emphasized that this should be looked at very carefully because there is no benefit whatsoever. “The regime’s objective is to maintain and increase the dependence of Cubans outside the country, to silence them and dilute the concept of exile.”
Individual rights
For his part, the lawyer, a specialist in immigration issues, Santiago Alpízar He pointed out that the adjustments proposed in Cuban immigration legislation, to adapt them to reality, “are those that should always exist within the framework of a law that corresponds to a normal country where individual rights and free movement are respected.”
However, “The regime continues to use this or any other legislation in order to determine who can or cannot reside in Cuba. If it were not otherwise, they would allow the free flow of Cubans to the island, without any type of restriction for ideological reasons or political positions.”
Alpízar questions that, in the Cuban case, residency has been the category chosen by the regime to condition the exercise of rights in the country.
In this sense, he considers that the project proposes to continue reproducing the logic of limiting the rights of people who decide to live outside of Cuba.
“So they can make the law whatever they want. The way it is applied is the will and the manner in which it is applied, and I don’t think it will be different from what is in the interests and convenience of the Cuban Communist Party,” said the expert in immigration cases.
“I have said that this new Immigration Law and also the adjustments that have been made in relation to the inheritance rights in Cuba, or in other words, the succession rights, are nothing more than bait for the dull ones who intend to invest in Cuba, considering that there has been some positive change in the position of the Communist Party towards investment and private property. They do not respect property. Their only purpose is to save themselves from the deep crisis of governability-administration through these legislative hooks that have no other purpose than to favor the interests of the Castro family that maintains a feudal regime on the island of Cuba.”
Alpízar said, “my recommendation is that no one invest in Cuba until there is a transparent society.”without corruption, without corruption and where everyone can have the legal security that their investment will not be expropriated or confiscated by the will of a member of the Communist Party or the leadership of the communist dictatorship.”
Both analysts confirmed that the emigrated status will remain in force, even though it is provided for in the bill. Only if an express request is made, a person can opt for the immigration status of resident abroad.
Migratory categories
Among the migratory categories of Cuba, it is specified that the resident abroad has three subcategories:
- Resident abroad (without residence on the Island)
- Emigrants (those who, prior to the entry into force of the Law, held this condition)
- Investors and businesses (those who participate in the Cuban economic model based on the modalities approved by the Law)
In the category of residents in Cuban territory, effective migratory residency is created, which is achieved when Cuban citizens and foreigners with temporary residency remain most of their time in the national territory and demonstrate roots in the country.
The scope of the nationality issue remains to be seen.. Cubans are prohibited from entering the country with any passport other than the Cuban one. But the bill states that they can enter with another nationality. But those who opt for this decision “cannot identify themselves in Cuba as Cuban citizens, since for the purposes of entry and exit they are subject to the presentation of the corresponding foreign passport,” which has been denounced as an automatic stripping of nationality, although Cuba has denied this.
That is to say, we will have to wait for the approval of the law with its regulations, but it is already clear that civil rights will continue to be limited by the political discrimination implemented by the Cuban regime, agreed analyst Gutiérrez Boronat and lawyer Santiago Alpízar.
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Source: CUBAN MIGRATION LAW PROJECT / INTERVIEWS WITH ANALYST ORLANDO GUTIÉRREZ BONORAT AND LAWYER SANTIAGO ALPÍZAR / LAS AMÉRICAS NEWSPAPER
