Because immigrated Cubans become Republicans.

Because of Tony Montana?

Don't ask, don't tell.

Silly Ace - it's because these people are obviously crazy. They are FLEEING from the greatest Workers Paradise in the western hemisphere! If that ain't crazy I don't know what is. They had FREE HEALTH CARE! And sugar cane! And tobacco! And baseball! And, uhhhh free health care!

Yup, need to round those buggers up and hand 'em back to Castro. I'm sure they'll be treated nicely and given Extra Special Free Health Care.

You can effectively close the comment thread after comment #1. Dayna nailed it.

And Mexicans vote Democrat.

And Mexicans vote Democrat.

Often more than once per election!

"And Mexicans vote Democrat."

Even some of the ones who die on the way, too.

Stupid Cubans learn how to speak english, become a part of society and don't send money back to Mexico propping up a corrupt goverment. They won't even cut your friggin grass for 3 bucks an hour, and they tend to vote Republican like the guy said.

Ace,

Clinton has nothing to do with the fact that President Bush won't focus on anything but tax cuts for the rich, Iraq or some phony ass press time.

Here is an idea. Why don't we start investing money into our own damn country thats going to hell instead of Iraq?

Dear AlanB:

Stop trying to hijack threads you stupid little shit. You are so repetitive, off topic and lame I'd almost concludes that you were a spam-bot.

FOAD

AlanB,
Ace has nothing to do with the fact that LauraW. posted this topic.

Here's an idea: why don't you pay attention to what's right in front of your fucking face before you get the urge to spout off on something that has nothing to do with what the grownups are talking about?

How come cubans come here and they want to send them back to the hell hole then illegal aleins come here and their allowed to stay? what kind of double standards are these?

I blogged on this very topic, the other day.

There's a lot of miscomprehension out there regarding wet foot/dry foot. Cuban refugees have been allowed to automatically apply for asylum for four decades, the 1965 Cuban Adjustment Act allows any Cuban refugee admitted for any purpose to automatically adjust his or her status to that of legal permanent resident after one year.

The wet foot/dry foot policy is a result of an executive agreement between Castro and the Clinton administration. Castro was threatening to unleash another Mariel if we continued to grant asylum to Cuban rrefugees who were found on the high seas, and the Clinton administration wanted to raise the number of visas granted in an official, annual lottery.

The problem with criticisms of the wet foot/dry foot policy is that no one seems able to offer a viable alternative. I think that it is deplorable to actively prevent people from reaching shore -- a recent example saw the Coast Guard in the unenviable position of preventing a group of refugees from reaching shore while being watched on live television -- but those cases are the rare exception, not the rule.

And rescinding wet foot/dry foot does not solve the problem of the danger peole encounter when trying to cross the Gulf Stream in inadequate watercraft; indeed, the problem would likely become more acute. That little boy would not have been saved if the rule had been rescinded by President Bush.

And if we do rescind the rule, Castro is likely to unleash another Mariel. I don't think many people remember how traumatic the first Mariel was for South Florida. So what to do if Castro follows through on his threat?

SWLip is right. Marielitos are still causing trouble here, especially in south Florida. Our immigration laws are an unholy mess, and the common practice of selective enforcement doesn't help. Personally, I have a lot of sympathy for the Cubans who come here, but I don't see a clear cut solution, short of whacking Castro and trying to unfuck Cuba.

I don't see a clear cut solution, short of whacking Castro and trying to unfuck Cuba.

The man has to die some day. And when he does, I think the cubans are capable of unfucking themselves.

SWLiP, excellent points.

Dammit.

Blasted to shit? Little overdramatic here, aren't we? The article says the boat overturned while trying to evade the Coast Guard. That is little different from the frequent reports of overloaded coyote vans rolling or crashing that we get here in California on a weekly basis.

If we really cared about changing things in Cuba we would have been making a more overt effort to encourage the overthrow of Castro since the collapse of the USSR. Without the Soviets around there is no reason to resist intervention other than we just cannot be bothered. Yet the administrations since the end of the Cold War seem to like maintaining the status quo. If we wanted to get practice at reforming dictatorships into democracies we could hardly have chosen a better candidate.

Overthrow Castro?
I can see it now, t-shirts reading -- No blood for Sugar Cane, No blood for Bananas.

Sorry epobirs, that was an unintelligible reference to the other recent story of a small craft that was surrounded by coast guard vessels and blasted with firehoses until they capsized/ passengers were swept away.
I was posting in a rush and could have been more clear.

That is little different from the frequent reports of overloaded coyote vans rolling or crashing that we get here in California on a weekly basis.

I remember when one of the trucks desinegrated and pieces of it and illegal aliens were flying all over the place. The deputy catches the guy and gives him a few well-deserved licks. Unfortunately, it was caught on camera and the deputy gets punished. I would have beat the holy crap out of the guy for endangering so many peoples lives.

One solution might be to amend the rule so that any Cuban refugee reaching U.S. territorial waters can automatically apply for asylum. But that might create as many problems as it solves, because the Coast Guard's discretion in determining who has reached our territorial waters and who hasn't would be under constant scrutiny. It would also mean that more interdiction resources would have to be committed to the high seas, and the Coast Guard's somewhat contradictory missions of interdiction vs. rescue and safety would become even more contradictory.

Either way, the Coasties (very good people who have suffered from more "mission creep" than just about any institution) get put in an unfair position.

And for the record, David Caruso's character on CSI Miami– even though it was against the law, waded into the surf to help a boat load of people reach land and freedom.

So, take that, Ace!

Attn Bart!
The new chant should be "No blood for cigars"!
Gee...I wonder what Monica and Bill are up to lately?

"Cuban refugees have been allowed to automatically apply for asylum for four decades ..."

SWLiP beat me to it. Dammit.

Some of us are old enough to remember a lot of this. Dammit.

Thing is, the next generation of Cuban-Americans are NOT their parents. (Weird twist of fate: I once took Spanish classes with the wife of the ex Minister of Education -- exiled Cubans of the most bitter stripe, and that's saying something...) I've worked with younger Cubans and Cuban-Americans, and these are the ones who are no longer solidly for sanctions etc.

For them, 1958 was prehistoric times. Castro is a dinosaur who no longer is worth a lot of hate.

I can see it now, t-shirts reading -- No blood for Sugar Cane, No blood for Bananas.

"This s--t is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s..."

Castro is worth plenty of hate.

Cubans have no intention of returning to the shithole they left, and also can't make an easy escape back home when they, for example, murder a police officer as one did here in Denver. but isn't there an 'international water' thing vs the binary nature of a border that might explain the differing policies?

Uh, on a minor note, the boat "overturned as it was being chased," not "blown to shit."

Attempting to overtake and board a vessel is a TAD different than engaging it with direct fire.

Not that I disagree with the point of yer post....

Yes, I know. Please see my response to epobirs at October 22, 2005 01:10 PM

Damn, you are some persnickety people.

Did I spell everything right?