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Administration
officials debate Cuban repatriation
By Nancy San Martin, Peter Wallsten and Alfonso
Chard, achardy@herald.com. Posted on Sat, Aug.
02, 2003 in The
Miami Herald.
A growing controversy about the fate of 19 Cuban
migrants aboard a Coast Guard cutter has prompted
a debate within the Bush administration about
its policy of repatriating most Cubans intercepted
at sea, according to several administration officials.
It is not clear if the debate will yield a shift
in policy, but some administration officials want
an end to recurring dilemmas on what to do with
Cuban migrants trying to reach the United States.
A White House spokesman said the Bush administration
was not changing its migration policy. ''Our policy
is one of a safe, orderly and legal migration,''
said Scott McClellan. "We expect that policy
to be implemented and carried out in a consistent
way.''
The debate is the first serious hint of a split
within the administration about the controversial
Cuban repatriation policy in effect since 1995,
when former President Clinton and the Cuban government
agreed to new migration accords.
Under the agreement, Cubans stopped at sea are
returned to Cuba unless they convince U.S. immigration
officers that they have a ''credible fear'' of
persecution if repatriated.
Typically, Cuban migrants are interviewed aboard
Coast Guard ships by officers familiar with U.S.
asylum procedures.
Cubans with a believable fear of persecution
are taken to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo
Bay, where their claims are investigated further.
Before the 1995 agreements, Cuban migrants were
rescued at sea and brought to the United States.
Cuban migrants who elude the Coast Guard and
reach shore now generally get to stay. The most
recent group, numbering 53, landed Thursday near
the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo. They were released
from federal detention on Friday, said Barbara
González, a spokeswoman for the Bureau
of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami.
The debate over the repatriation policy unfolded
in Washington as asylum officers continued to
interview some of the 19 Cubans held on a Coast
Guard cutter after being stopped Monday 44 miles
north of Cuba. At least 13 of the Cubans claimed
they were members of Cuban dissident groups.
A senior administration official said he believed
some of the 19 Cubans would be taken to Guantánamo
and others would likely be returned to Cuba.
But some migrants who were initially going to
be repatriated were being reinterviewed to make
sure nothing was overlooked, according to administration
officials.
High level administration members, including
national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and
chief of staff Andrew Card were involved in discussions
about the 19 Cubans, according to officials.
''Based on new information . . . further scrutiny
and additional interviews are ongoing,'' said
Steve Vermillion, chief of staff for U.S. Rep.
Lincoln Díaz-Balart, a Florida Republican.
It was not clear what the ''new information''
was, but a senior Homeland Security official emphasized
that the new round of interviews did not constitute
a change in U.S. policy.
The heightened attention to the migrants appears
to stem from the U.S. government's decision to
repatriate 12 suspected Cuban boat hijackers last
month. They were returned after the Cuban government
assured that the migrants would receive prison
sentences no longer than 10 years.
The repatriation elicited criticism from Cuban
exile groups, as well as from Gov. Jeb Bush, the
president's brother.
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