• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 09 / 20 / 2011

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September 17-18, 2011. By ARIAN CAMPO-FLORES. MIAMI - One recent morning at the airport here, Enrique Verea waited to check in to his flight to Havana, Cuba, with a luggage cart piled high with bags of food,clothes and medicine for his family.

That could be his last trip to the island for a while if a bill proposed by Republican Rep. David Rivera of Florida passes Congress. The measure, which would amend the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, is aimed at people like Mr. Verea, who, in Mr. Rivera's view, are violating the spirit of the act.

The CAA, which allows Cubans to apply for permanent residency a year after they arrive in the U.S., was originally aimed at providing a haven to victims of persecution, Mr. Rivera argues. Yet these days, many Cubans head back to the island to visit family soon after they get their green cards. "You're either fleeing political persecution or you're not," said Mr. Rivera, who is himself Cuban-American.

His bill, which was filed last month and referred to the House judiciary committee, would revoke the residency of Cubans who travel back to the island before obtaining U.S. citizenship. Analysts say the proposal has a decent shot of passing the Republican-controlled House, but would likely face opposition from the Democratic majority in the Senate and from President Barack Obama.

Whatever its fate, the measure is deepening fault lines in the Cuban-American community. It is pitting an older, more conservative generation of exiles who fled Cuba for political reasons and never returned against a newer, more moderate generation of immigrants like Mr. Verea, who left mostly for economic reasons and retain close ties to relatives back home.

The debate is heating up at a time when the Obama administration's moves to loosen travel restrictions to Cuba are sending increasing numbers of visitors there from the U.S., most of them Cuban expatriates. Marazul Charters, which arranges flights to the island, predicts that 400,000 people will visit the island legally from the U.S. this year up from 324,000 last year.

Supporters of the bill argue it would curb what they consider rampant abuse of the CAA. Mr. Rivera says community members have recounted cases of Cubans heading home to get liposuction procedures or to hawk medicines they bought in the U.S. Some Cubans, who may qualify for benefits like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families when they arrive in the U.S., are using those subsidies to help fund trips back to the island, he says.

Yet Hiram Ruiz, director of refugee services at the Florida Department of Children and Families, said given the TANF benefits a maximum of $364 a month for a family of four"it's highly unlikely refugees would be able to maintain themselves, less yet finance trips."

Backers of Mr. Rivera's bill say Cuban expatriates are propping up President Raúl Castro's government with the cash and goods they bring.

"We are essentially creating a relief program for the current regime," said Mauricio Claver-Carone, director of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, a group supporting hard-line policies against the island.

Mr. Rivera's proposal has sparked a furor among Cuban-Americans who would be directly affected by it. "If he had sick relatives there, he wouldn't be talking like that," said Gustavo Monteagudo, who visits family on the island once a year and is not yet a U.S. citizen.

What especially riles opponents is that the measure comes from a fellow Cuban-American. "It's like being in a room that's on fire, and you get out the door and slam it behind you," said Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of Democracy Movement, a group favoring greater travel to Cuba.

Some say Mr. Rivera is trying to boost support among conservative Cuban-Americans amid uncertainty over his political future. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating him for "alleged financial improprieties," said a spokesman, who declined to elaborate.

In July, the Miami Herald reported Mr. Rivera faced probes by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service into undisclosed payments allegedly made by a gambling enterprise to a company tied to him. Both agencies declined to comment. Mr. Rivera denied any wrongdoing.

WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/