Surge in Cuban emigration spurs resentment in U.S. and bottleneck throughout Central America

• Taking advantage of Cuba’s 2012 removal of exit visas, more than 43,500 Cubans arrived in 2015, a 78% increase over 2014 and nearly six times as many as in 2011.
• Following an airlift of Cuban migrants traveling to the U.S. through Central America stuck at a closed Nicaraguan border, Costa Rica closed its borders to Cuban migrants, trapping thousands across its border with Panama in towns like Paso Canoas and Puerto Obaldia.
• With the reestablishment of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations, some have begun calling for a revision of the immigration policy that fast-tracks permanent residency for Cuban immigrants over others, including those from violence-riddled Central America.

Read more:
“Cuban migration to US continues to swell on fears of losing privileges” (AP via The Guardian)
“Bound for U.S., Cuban migrants are stuck in Central America” (CNN)
“Cuban immigrants face resentment in Texas over ‘preferential treatment’” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman/New York Times/Redux/eyevine, via The Guardian)