The exodus of people fleeing Cuba for the United States has reached an all-time high this year as the Caribbean country intensifies its brutal crackdown on citizens, and the United States’ southern border crisis continues to spiral.
Border authorities have intercepted more than 227,000 Cubans who tried to enter the United States illegally from December 2021 to 2022, representing the largest exodus in history, Agence France-Presse reported.
The 227,000 is more than the two largest previous mass departures, when 125,000 Cubans left for the United States in 1980 and when 34,000 people did so in 1994, said Jorge Duany of Florida International University.
US Customs and Border Protection stopped Cubans more than 79,800 times from last October to March – more than double in all of 2021 and five times more than in all of 2020. In total, the Border Patrol stopped migrants of all nationalities more than 209,000 times in March stopped. highest monthly mark in 22 years.
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A stray raft with an American flag was intercepted by Cuban authorities off the coast of the nation’s capital, Havana.
(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
“There are several intertwined factors that have produced a perfect storm for the intensification of the Cuban exodus,” Duany said.
For one, Cuba is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and the tightening of US sanctions.
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People attend a cultural-political event on the coast Malecon Avenue with thousands of people in support of the Cuban revolution six days after the uprising of anti-government demonstrators across the island, in Havana
(AP Photo/Ismael Francisco)
Massive street protests this summer and the government’s brutal crackdown also played a role. Non-governmental organizations have reported more than 1,400 arrests and 500 people sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for vandalism or sedition.
The Cuban exodus comes as the United States has seen a record amount of illegal immigration at the border with more than 73,000 illegal immigrants evading border patrol on the southern border in November, an all-time record.
Dulce Diaz, center, and her brother Carlos Diaz, leave, demonstrate, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, as people gathered for the anti-government demonstrations in Cuba.
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
There were more than 2.3 million migrant arrivals in 2022 and more than 1.7 million in 2021. So far, FY2023 is on track to exceed both of these numbers.
