Matanzas, Cuba – Six months after being returned to Cuba from U.S. custody, the group of so-called “Bridge Rafters” have no choice but to wait amid uncertainty, anxiety and economic hardship for authorities on the island to decide their fate.
The 15 would-be emigrants were repatriated on Jan. 9 by U.S. authorities, one week after they landed on the support pylons of an abandoned bridge just off the Florida coast, where they remained for several hours in the hope that they would be eligible to stay in the United States under the so-called “wet foot, dry foot” policy.
The repatriation was carried out because the Florida Keys bridge in question was abandoned and not physically connected to the coast, leading U.S. immigration authorities to conclude that it did not constitute dry land.
A federal judge ruled Feb. 28, however, that the rafters were eligible to stay in the United States under the existing policy and asked the U.S. government to help them return.
Subsequently, the would-be emigrants submitted papers removing themselves from Cuba’s ration booklets and work-eligibility rosters to fulfill the requirements for an exit permit.
Communist Cuba is one of the few nations that requires of its citizens official permission to leave the country.
But Cuban authorities have not yet issued the exit visas and the “rafters” – as those who flee the island by sea, often in precarious vessels, are known – have no option but to wait amid a precarious economic situation, they said.
Since presenting their request for exit permits on March 28, the 14 rafters – the United States did not grant a visa to one of them because of his alleged criminal background – have frequented the immigration office in the west-central city of Matanzas in search of “some news.”
When they saw that we were going every day, they met with all of us and told us that all the papers were in order and they were only awaiting an order from Havana and they said they would call us by phone when it arrived,” said “Bridge Rafter” Elisabeth Hernandez.
“Now some go once a week to see if there’s anything,” she said, adding that, although a period of 60 days have been established for this type of process, the group has heard of cases where there have been delays of up to 11 months.
“If I have to wait 11 months, I’ll go crazy,” Hernandez told EFE.
The would-be emigrants have been told that the lack of precedent with regard to the repatriation of rafters who reached U.S. soil – and therefore would ordinarily be allowed to remain in the United States – has made theirs a “special case” for Cuban immigration officials.
Under Washington’s wet-foot, dry-foot policy, Cubans intercepted at sea by U.S. authorities are sent back to the island unless they can demonstrate that they have been politically persecuted, while those who reach American soil are allowed to remain and apply for permanent residence.
“They told us that ours is a special case,” said Ernesto Hernandez, another “Bridge Rafter.”
Ernesto, 49, said he has had no trouble with his neighbors, who continued to treat him “like always,” but he said the would-be emigrants’ serious financial straits and dependence on family members for sustenance have made it difficult for the group to remain calm.
“My brother-in-law is working for his five children and for my three kids, the man is killing himself and I’m desperate to help, because I’m a man with two hands and I’m accustomed to working my whole life and I don’t like to depend on anyone,” he said.
Ernesto said he constantly thinks about the day when U.S. immigration officials repatriated him. But, like the rest, he said he was confident that the exit visa would arrive, because the only thing they want is to be reunited with their families and have “nothing politically against the government or against anyone.”
The problem, according to another “Bridge Rafter” Noel Lazaro Reyes, is that no one “understands the reason for the delay.”
