The number of Cubans attempting to cross the 90-mile stretch of water separating the island from the United States has risen sharply following the two governments’ agreement to resume normal diplomatic relations, according to figures reported by the U.S. Coast Guard.
U.S. officials attribute the rise to rumors that as U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations resume, the United States will change its so-called “wet foot, dry foot” policy that allows Cuban migrants who reach American soil to remain in the country.
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“The Cuban Adjustment Act is based on the premise that the Cuban people are fleeing tyranny and oppression,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said after the Obama administration announced the changes to Cuba policy last month, according to NBC News. “And now the U.S. government has said that we no longer consider Cuba to be repressive and a dictatorship.”
