The United States and Cuba will not be able to establish normal migration relations until US ends immigration-related adjustment and admittance programs, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.
On Thursday, Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry official Josefina Vidal Ferreiro and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs John Creamer led delegations in migration talks held in Havana, the release noted.
“The Cuban delegation reiterated that there could be no normal migration relations between both countries as long as the ‘wet foot/dry foot’ policy’, the Cuban Adjustment Act, and the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program continue to exist,” the release stated on Thursday.
The Cuban Adjustment Act gives Cuban citizens preferential migration treatment, allowing those who arrive in the United States automatic admittance despite the ways and means they use to arrive to the country.
The Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program allows Cuban medical staff working in third world countries to leave their missions and migrate to the United States.
The US programs are a violation of the Migration Accords which commits both governments to ensure legal, safe and orderly migration, the Cuban delegation added.
