{"id":268035,"date":"2023-04-12T17:49:09","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T21:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=268035"},"modified":"2023-04-12T17:49:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T21:49:09","slug":"cubans-in-times-of-parole-the-islands-new-migratory-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/migration\/cubans-in-times-of-parole-the-islands-new-migratory-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubans in times of \u201cparole\u201d: the island\u2019s new migratory experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diego is 34 years old. Since mid-February he began the procedures to benefit from the \u201cHumanitarian Parole Process for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.\u201d The policy has been applied by the Biden administration since January 5, 2023 with the aim of reducing the number of migrants entering the United States illegally through the southern border. The program is a replica of the one aimed at the Ukrainian population, \u201cUniting for Ukraine,\u201d<\/strong><\/a> and was tested with Venezuelan migrants in 2022.<\/p>\n

The particularity of this variant lies in conditioning the eligibility of applicants to having a \u201csupport person\u201d or \u201csponsor\u201d who is financially responsible for those who intend to settle in the United States. The beneficiaries are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and receive authorization to travel and settle in the country for two years, with a work permit upon arrival.<\/p>\n

Under the initiative, the approval of 30,000 people per month was announced, although the number of \u201cbeneficiaries\u201d for each of the countries included in the Program<\/strong><\/a> is not specified. So far it is known that around 14,000 Cubans<\/strong><\/a> have benefited from it.<\/p>\n

In this context, Diego\u2019s brother, who has lived in Florida for four years, urged him to obtain his, his wife\u2019s, and their mother\u2019s passports to start the \u201cparole\u201d process. With this, the family has joined the thousands of Cubans who have begun the procedure to live in the United States. According to the opinions and experiences published on social networks so far, the process can be lengthy and casuistic.<\/p>\n

Looking for opportunities<\/h3>\n

A resident of Marianao, Diego, self-employed and with incomplete senior high studies, told me that as soon as his brother talked about the possibility of claiming them, he agreed. The 34-year-old has subsisted in recent times doing simultaneous jobs: he has been a messenger for enterprises that distribute food and hardware products in Havana and a waiter in a private business.<\/p>\n

He confesses that \u201cneither the body nor the money is enough to make ends meet, no one can bear these prices\u2026and I know that there are people who don\u2019t have anything to eat. Look, I have to take a bus to make deliveries from one side of Havana to the other: I start in Alamar and end who knows where, not to mention the lines and the struggle to get food. There are no options here. At least over there<\/em> [United States] the salary helps you live a little better and working the same. In Cuba there are no opportunities, you work for nothing, you struggle and struggle and you have nothing, you end up with nothing. Over there at least they pay you better.\u201d This is why Diego decided to \u201ctake advantage of this \u2018parole\u2019 thing to have a better future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diego, like so many other Cubans, is focused on carrying out the necessary steps to successfully reach the United States, a place that he perceives as the door to new opportunities: \u201cI know that I can do anything, whatever it takes to earn a living over there. That is why I am focused on completing the procedures as quickly as possible; above all, because rumor has it that this will end,\u201d he says, alluding to the lawsuit filed by various U.S. governors to stop the Program.1<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bureaucratic times<\/h3>\n

Faced with the threat of its termination, he and many people in Cuba are looking for options to shorten bureaucratic times and obtain a passport as quickly as possible. Once the document is obtained, the person who acts as sponsor can start the process on the electronic portal of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which implies opening an account on the USCIS page and filling out Form I-134A<\/strong><\/a>, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support. There, the sponsor must refer and demonstrate with the required documentation that he has an income greater than 125% per year, according to the number of household members.<\/p>\n

The income value per person is determined by the Federal Poverty Guidelines<\/strong><\/a> of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In the process, the beneficiaries must be included as members of the benefactor\u2019s household, even if in practice they will not reside there, in addition to property and other assets that may favor the approval of the application so that the beneficiaries can travel and settle in the United States. Once the economic feasibility has been evaluated so that future migrants do not become a public burden, the information reaches the sponsor and the beneficiary, as well as the admission and travel permit for the latter.<\/p>\n

For those unfamiliar with the jargon and complex U.S. immigration bureaucracy, the procedures are often confusing. They also require a variety of resources (information, money, lawyers) to reduce waiting times. On the other hand, as can be seen in different groups on the subject that have appeared on social networks, misleading information abounds. In addition, the permanent threat of the closure of the initiative has increased concern and stress among those who are living the process.<\/p>\n

Internet planet<\/h3>\n

While in the streets of the island the discomfort is felt in the pockets and kitchens, the social networks are abuzz because of the parole.<\/p>\n

In the \u201cInternet planet\u201d there are people finding out about the process in general; looking for sponsors; requesting help to fill out forms; wanting to know the necessary steps for the process to be successful; asking about the documentation that is necessary to take to the United States (vaccination cards, birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.); looking for processors and the cost of their services; and a long etcetera of matters.<\/p>\n

Everyone has the expectation that their immigration efforts will come to fruition; all share the stress and anguish of the process; everyone is excited to arrive in the United States for \u201cthe long-awaited reunion,\u201d \u201cto have a better future\u201d or \u201cto get out of this damned place, where there is no electricity or gas, but what there is always is a line for everything,\u201d as referred by some interviewees in Cuba who are participating in the process.2<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

People from all over Cuba can be found in Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp groups: from Las Tunas, Contramaestre, Perico, Puerto Padre, Uni\u00f3n de Reyes, Cienfuegos, San Juan y Mart\u00ednez, Artemisa, Santa Clara, El Cerro, Holgu\u00edn or Santiago de Cuba. People know and recognize each other; they virtually share coffee and recipes for even lime blossom or coriander tea for stress!<\/p>\n

They accompany each other in this exit project, more benign than that of previous months<\/strong><\/a>, but which implies putting other \u201cassets\u201d or \u201cresources\u201d into operation: turning to a relative or friend who agrees to be a \u201csponsor\u201d; take pictures; find a processor to help them; start the passport process \u2014 a process that is taking months; while the imponderables of national daily life are suffered, such as the lack of electricity, Internet connection, or both.<\/p>\n

Cuba, current migration crisis: characteristics and testimonies (I)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n