The decision by US President Barack Obama to repeal the policy “wet foot, dry foot” was a slap in the face for dozens of Cubans who left their country and were on their way to the United States.
The policy provided preferential treatment to Cuban immigrants and refugees who were on US soil. Now they are in the same conditions as the rest of Latin Americans.
Costa Rica was one of the key points of the immigration crisis that soared in late 2015.
Following the untimely decision (which was applauded by Luis Guillermo Solís), a group of Cubans is now stranded in Paso Canoas, since they no longer have benefits to enter US territory.
Fabián Oreste, a Cuban from Guantánamo, confirmed that they left Cuba on December 19th. A month later, they do not know what will happen and fear being deported by the Costa Rican government, which has asked for such measures for over a year now.
It was very hard. Nobody knows what Cubans go through and the things we have to endure in Cuba to get where we have arrived (…) We sold everything, even the house. We do not have anything. Only a desperate family,”
said Oreste.
However, there is a possibility that the reconciliation in US-Cuba diplomatic relations will bring changes to Obama’s announcement.