Obama ends 20-year-old immigration policy for Cuban migrants

Washington : US President Barack Obama has ended a two-decade-old “wet foot, dry foot” immigration policy that allowed Cuban migrants who reach US soil illegally to to stay and become legal residents, a significant step towards normalising relations with its former Cold War foe.
The repeal of the longstanding immigration policy, coming in the last days of the Obama administration, is effective immediately.
“The Department of Homeland Security is ending the so-called ‘wet-foot, dry foot’ policy, which was put in place more than twenty years ago and was designed for a different era,” Obama said in a statement yesterday.
He said the US is taking important steps to normalise relations with the communist nation and to bring greater consistency to its immigration policy.
“Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with US law and enforcement priorities,” he said.