Homemade Boats: The Journey of a Cuban Migrant
I had never seen so many people at the José Martí International Airport. A crowd outside the main glass doors had overflowed off of the curb and into the street. I asked the taxi driver what was going on. “Nicaragua,” he sighed.
My travel mates and I grabbed our suitcases and walked up to the crowd. Several security guards were blocking the path into the airport. I approached a tall man in a uniform to get the story. “Where are you going?” he asked. “Back to the U.S.” He looked down at my blue passport and waved us through.
Struggling through shoulders and elbows, we carved a path through the crowd and made it through the glass doors. The airport was quiet.
Being able to travel to the U.S. directly from Cuba made us extremely privileged. Everyone outside would be doing the same, if they could.
I walked up to the JetBlue check-in counter and asked, gesturing outside, “Are they all trying to go see the volcanos?”
The check-in attendant was Cuban. Eyeing me, she said, “You know too much.”
Going on “vacation” to “see the volcanos” in Nicaragua is a recently minted Cubanismo for flying to Nicaragua to start the journey toward the U.S.-Mexico border.
During my trip to Havana in March of this year, almost every local I met was either thinking about leaving or preparing to leave the island. Close friends of mine would soon sell all their belongings and begin their own journeys to the U.S.
For emigrating Cubans, the most accessible starting point after leaving Havana is Nicaragua. Cubans don’t currently need a travel visa to get there, which means many buy a plane ticket as soon as they have enough money. But Nicaragua is far from the ideal pit stop; the U.S. State Department’s travel advisory puts Nicaragua just one level below Ukraine, asking U.S. citizens to reconsider traveling there.
Once in Nicaragua, Cubans pay coyotes upward of USD 5,000 to smuggle them through several countries and checkpoints, and ultimately across the U.S.-Mexico border. The risk of getting robbed is high, so Cubans often have a friend in the U.S. send them cash through Western Union in small tranches along the way.
The journey through Central America is perilous. Cubans are often on the run from the authorities even before they try to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. They are likely to be “illegal” immigrants in Mexico unless they can secure a humanitarian visa.
Those with more resources or better luck avoid Nicaragua altogether; some Cubans are able to secure a visa to Mexico, leave for “vacation” to Cancun and start a safer, shorter journey to the border.
Presenting Cuban documents at a U.S. port of entry has a low success rate, so most Cuban migrants—rich or poor, PhDs or cab drivers (some Cubans are both)—eventually face the moment in which they cross the border illegally. They run through the Sonoran desert, wade across the Rio Grande, or jump over a fence. They face dangers that I will never fully comprehend.
Contemplating their journey evokes sorrow, dolor, tristeza.
There is one more way to get from Cuba to the U.S.
Many Cubans cross by sea. It’s quicker and more direct than land, but perhaps more dangerous. With homemade boats, thousands of Cubans are attempting the journey. Many have made it, but many have died at sea. The U.S. Coast Guard frequently tweets #DontTakeToTheSea to deter crossings.
Below is a Cuban vessel that was intercepted on May 29th (USCG news release). Its passengers were repatriated to Cuba.
Another Cuban vessel, christened “God is Just,” was intercepted in June off the Florida keys and its passengers repatriated to Cuba.
Some migrants, however, make it to Florida. Last week the U.S. Border Patrol’s Miami Sector arrested 108 Cubans on shore.
Cubans who make it safely to land are often treated as asylum seekers. Many are put on a path toward legal status and obtain a work permit. Some, after years, eventually get U.S. citizenship. These success stories are relayed back to Cuba, giving hope to more potential emigrants.
Cubans are trying to enter the U.S. in record numbers. We don’t have data yet for July or August, but it’s clear that something big is going on this year.
So, what is driving Cuban emigration? How is the U.S. government reacting? This and more to be discussed in upcoming issues of The Cuba Reader.
Other stories from this week:
Cuba’s enormous blaze fuels fears of instability even as flames are doused | The Guardian
Covid-19 has damaged the reputation of Cuban health care | The Economist