Cuddled Cubans: The True Cost of Cuban Immigration

Medicare fraud, government corruption, preferential treatment for public funding, priority access to government handouts and social services, and American job losses due to bilingualism; doesn’t come close to the true cost of Cuban immigration to South Florida.

Having recently gone through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Americans suffered the steepest decline in household net worth on record since World-War II.  According to National Bureau of Economic Research, the recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.  Given the current state of the economy, many Floridians would disagree.

As of July 2011, the unemployment rate for Florida was 10.7 percent, while Miami’s jobless rate stood at 12.5 percent—almost 2 percentage points higher than the state average and over 3 percentage points higher than the national average.

The frustration and helplessness Miami-Dade county residents have felt due to the economy finally boiled over into outrage when citizens learned that county leaders gave aides hefty raises, while foreclosures and the unemployment rate were among the highest in the nation.  Government cronyism and mismanagement, tax hikes and corruption resulted in the recall of county Mayor Carlos Alvarez in March.

More recently, Miami City Manager Johnny Martinez declared Florida’s ‘financial urgency’ statute to cover a $61 million shortfall.  The statute allows the city to renegotiate new labor contracts.  Labor Unions unwilling to endure additional cuts are threatening to recall city Mayor Thomas Regalado who initiated the move.

Marielitos

Ever since Hector Sanyustiz drove a bus through the fence of the Peruvian embassy in Havana demanding political asylum in April 1980, Fidel Castro opened a Pandora’s Box, with the blessing of President Jimmy Carter, giving the green light to anyone wishing to leave Cuba by opening the port of Mariel. Castro only acquiesced to save face in light a possible failed revolution, with over 10,000 Cubans at the embassy seeking asylum.  The result was the Mariel Boat lift that unleashed over 125,000 Cubans upon Miami.

As the mass exodus commenced, the Carter administration discovered that a number the exiles were from Cuban jails and mental health facilities.  Some estimates put the number of undesirables from as low as 7,500 to as high as 40,000. Soon, thousands more followed and crime in Miami was the order of the day.

In the meantime, white flight began in earnest with thousands fleeing to various parts of North Florida generating the now infamous bumper sticker, “Will the last American to leave Miami please bring the flag.”

A mostly white Miami police department scrambled to hire more police officers.  Many were criminals themselves and with little or no training, the Miami police department became one of the most corrupt law enforcement agencies in the nation.

Blacks and Cubans

The Cuban wave had a particularly adverse impact on Miami’s black population. Unlike whites, blacks could not afford the move north to escape the Cuban crime wave.  Already dealing with racism throughout America, blacks now had to endure yet another insult.

The Cuban Adjustment Act allowed the United States to grant political asylum to Cubans as political refugees and as such, provided them automatic permanent residence status—all without review and without the usual waiting time.   The law gave Cuban illegal immigrants the opportunity to work legally, receive government welfare and unemployment benefits and free medical care.

Moreover, Blacks lost jobs because the Cubans were willing to work for less and, to this day, bilingualism is taking jobs away from, not just African-Americans but all South Floridians who do not speak Spanish.

Marvin Dunn, a historian and retired FIU professor said, “They were given preferential treatment for public funding when it came to health services and social services. That impact is still being felt today when you consider the number of African Americans who did not get jobs back then and now have grown children who do not have jobs.”

“It pissed a lot of people off; white, black and Cuban,” said Dunn. “It was completely disorganized. Nobody was in control.”

Cubanomics

Preferential treatment of friends and colleagues; appointing them to positions of power has been a political mainstay and is as old as democracy itself.  Cubans, however, have taken cronyism to a level that few American-born politicians dare to tread.  Their grip on Miami politics, thanks to the arrival of the Marielitos in the 80’s, gave Cuban politicians a sense of omnipotence—enabling them to operate with relative impunity.

Government corruption, mismanagement, police misconduct, election fraud, theft and ethics violations seem to be standard operating procedure in city hall.  Add Medicare fraud disproportionately committed by Cubans, these and other crimes cost American taxpayers billions.  For over 30 years, the Cubans have been plundering South Florida because of America’s shortsighted, self-serving political policies and inept law enforcement.

Se Habla Español?

While it is certainly an advantage to be able to speak a second language, most Americans are not bilingual.  Americans believe that English is the only language that matters and in the US that should not be a problem. In Miami the reality is, Spanish as a first language accounts for over 65 percent of residents—a direct result of the Mariel Boat lift and the Cuban Adjustment Act.

It is no wonder that English-speakers are frustrated that in their own country, Spanish-speakers have the advantage.

In a global economy, it is customary to do business in the language of your host country.  Everyday at businesses throughout Miami, Cubans show their disrespect to America by ignoring this courtesy.  Americans feel it is rude and disrespectful for Latinos to speak Spanish in English-speaking public venues and businesses of their adopted country. The burden should be on the immigrants to speak English, not the other way around.

If you live in the United States, speak the language of the land.  You are no longer in Latin America.  If you are bilingual, speak English whenever possible.  To be clear, no one is asking Latinos to abandon their language, heritage, or culture; however, if you consider yourself an American, assimilate and respect our culture.

Look on any job board in Miami e.g., Craigslist, and the majority of want ads look for bilingual-only candidates.  The cost is a brain drain of the Miami job market as highly skilled American professionals flee to other markets, leaving Miami in danger of becoming a low skilled, low wage service market.

The Wussification of Miami

Cubans immigrants have asserted themselves in South Florida and pushed Americans all but out of Miami in part, because of their refusal to assimilate into American society.  More importantly, Cuban-Americans have influenced U.S. policy by holding their large voting bloc over the heads of American politicians in elections.

It is time for Americans to stop caving to the Cubans and take Miami back.  We should demand that the immigration laws that apply to the Haitians, Mexicans and other immigrants apply equally to Cuban immigrants. No matter how unrealistic the task may seem normalizing US-Cuba relations by rolling back sanctions would go along way in stemming the flow of immigration from Cuba.  America is still a democracy.

The Cubans have proven repeatedly that they cannot govern without turmoil and rampant corruption. The once pristine Miami metropolitan area, rich in American history, is much too important to relinquish to those only interested in enriching themselves and giving nothing in return.

To give up control of Miami to immigrants who could care less about what being an America represents is nothing short of tragic—something we all need to remember next election.