Story highlights Havana has argued the policy encourages Cubans to make the dangerous trip to the US

The decision was likely Obama's last move in his historic dealings with Cuba

Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama is ending the longstanding "wet foot, dry foot" policy that allows Cubans who arrive in the United States without a visa to become permanent residents, the administration announced Thursday.

The move, which wasn't previously outlined and is likely one of the final foreign policy decisions of Obama's term, terminates a decades-long policy that many argued amounted to preferential treatment for a single group of migrants.

"By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries," Obama wrote in a statement Thursday.

"The United States, a land of immigrants, has been enriched by the contributions of Cuban-Americans for more than a century," he continued. "Since I took office, we have put the Cuban-American community at the center of our policies. With this change we will continue to welcome Cubans as we welcome immigrants from other nations, consistent with our laws."

The policy, in place for more than two decades, had applied solely to Cubans. Following a mass exodus of Cubans to the United States, former President Bill Clinton in the mid-1990s changed the "open door" policy on Cuban refugees -- first established by President Lyndon B. Johnson -- to the "wet, foot, dry foot" policy that repatriated Cubans intercepted at sea but allowed those who reach land to stay.

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Read More</s>The US is to end its 'wet foot, dry foot' policy that grants immigrants from Cuba permanent residency in America if they reach the country's shores.

The policy, which has been accused of favouring Cuban immigrants over those entering the US from other countries, has now been rescinded, US President Barack Obama announced on Thursday (12 January).

"Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities," Obama said in a statement reported by The Hill.

"By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries. The Cuban government has agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals who have been ordered removed, just as it has been accepting the return of migrants interdicted at sea."

Cuban people found at sea had previously been sent back to Cuba, while the so-called 'wet foot, dry foot' policy allowed those people who made it to dry land to automatically qualify for permanent residency in the US.

But as US/Cuban relations have thawed, and an increase in Cuban people moving to the US has occurred, Obama took the decision to scrap the policy, along with the Cuban Medical Professional Parole programme, which granted visas to those in the medical field.

"Since I took office, we have put the Cuban-American community at the center of our policies. With this change we will continue to welcome Cubans as we welcome immigrants from other nations, consistent with our laws," Obama added.

"During my Administration, we worked to improve the lives of the Cuban people — inside of Cuba — by providing them with greater access to resources, information and connectivity to the wider world. Sustaining that approach is the best way to ensure that Cubans can enjoy prosperity, pursue reforms, and determine their own destiny."</s>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama is ending the longstanding "wet foot, dry foot" policy that allows Cubans who arrive in the United States without a visa to become permanent residents, two senior US officials told CNN Thursday.

The policy has applied solely for Cubans. Other immigrants who attempt to enter the United States without a visa face arrest and deportation.

The decision was likely Obama's last move in his historic dealings with Cuba. In 2014, he reopened ties to the island nation after a half-century of frozen diplomatic ties.

Havana has long argued the policy encourages Cubans to make the dangerous crossing from Cuba to Florida.

The Cuban government has been informed of decision to end its the policy towards Cuban refugees according to a senior Cuban government official.</s>Barack Obama will be the U.S. president for eight more days. But he's decided something that will have lasting ramifications for Miami and South Florida: the end of the long-standing and controversial "wet foot, dry foot" Cuban immigration policy, which granted residency to Cuban immigrants who entered the United States without visas, according to a statement from the White House. The rule-change was first reported by the the Associated Press.

"Today, the United States is taking important steps forward to normalize relations with Cuba and to bring greater consistency to our immigration policy," President Obama said in a news release. "The Department of Homeland Security is ending the so-called 'wet-foot/dry foot' policy, which was put in place more than twenty years ago and was designed for a different era."

Effective immediately, Cuban nationals "will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities," the president said. Cuban migrants who have already begun the process of applying for legal residency through the program will be allowed to continue.

Obama also said the Castro government had agreed to accept deported Cubans, " just as it has been accepting the return of migrants interdicted at sea."

"Wet foot, dry foot" was first implemented in 1995, after then-President Bill Clinton announced the U.S. Coast Guard would deport migrants caught floating in the waters between Cuba and the States but would accept any refugees who made it onto U.S. soil. If a Cuban migrant reached American land, he or she would then be able to apply for an expedited green card.

The White House is also ending the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program, which encouraged Cuban doctors and nurses to defect to the U.S.

The "wet foot, dry foot" policy came after a wave of 35,000 migrants fled Cuba in 1994 — until "wet foot, dry foot," the U.S. Coast Guard accepted any migrants caught at sea. At the time, the U.S. said it didn't want to send migrants back to Fidel Castro's communist nation, and Castro himself typically refused to accept migrants who fled.

According to the AP, the Obama Administration had spent months trying to convince Cuban officials to take back migrants who'd fled for the U.S.

The law sparked a significant amount of criticism over the years: When it was enacted, Cuba and the United States had no formal diplomatic relations. But over the years, the Cuban government has relaxed punishments for some crimes, and Cuban "refugees" in South Florida have increasingly traveled back and forth between the two nations without fear of imprisonment or worse.

As relations between the two countries have improved, critics of the law have said it no longer makes sense to give Cubans immigrants an advantage over those from other nations. Critics have also argued the policy encouraged the smuggling of Cuban migrants into the country.

A 2015 South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial called for an end to "wet foot, dry foot," characterizing the policy as a needless holdout from the Cold War. That same year, the Miami Herald editorial board also called for an end to the law. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, called the law "no longer justified" in 2016.

As relations have thawed, Cubans have increasingly fled to South Florida and other parts of the United States over concerns that "wet foot, dry foot" would likely come to an end. Over the years, thousands of Cuban migrants have landed on Florida's beaches, sometimes to the cheers of locals. According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 118,000 Cuban immigrants have arrived at U.S. ports since 2012.

The move is one of the rare decisions that Obama and President-elect Donald Trump will likely agree on: Obama is making the rule-changes through an executive order, which Trump could theoretically overturn with the stroke of a pen. In the past, however, Trump has also called the policy "unfair."

With this step, Obama will likely be remembered as one of the most consequential presidents when it comes to immigration in U.S. history: According to ABC News, Obama has deported more people than any other president.

"The United States, a land of immigrants, has been enriched by the contributions of Cuban-Americans for more than a century," the president said today. "Since I took office, we have put the Cuban-American community at the center of our policies. With this change we will continue to welcome Cubans as we welcome immigrants from other nations, consistent with our laws."

This is a breaking story. This post will be updated.</s>(CNS): With just days to go before the end of Barack Obama’s historic term as president of the United States of America, his administration has announced an end to the policy which allows Cuban migrants who reach US soil to stay there legally while those intercepted at sea are sent back to Cuba. In exchange, Cuba has agreed to start accepting Cubans who have been issued a deportation order in the US after refusing to do so for decades. The decision could have a significant impact on the Cayman Islands, where thousands of migrants have landed over the years as they attempt to make the perilous journey to America.

The decision by the US government comes one week before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has said he would renegotiate the historic deal that Obama signed with Cuba that ended the five decades of cold war stand-off between the two countries. If this latest announcement sticks, Cubans will no longer receive preferential treatment over migrants from other countries.

Trump has said he would renegotiate the deal with Cuba, and ending the ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy could affect his plans. But rumors of the end of the policy have been rampant in Cuba over the last two years because of the rapprochement between Havana and Washington, causing a surge of Cuban migration.

An end to the ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy could see an end to the stream of migrants arriving here on their way to Central America, from where they can cross into the US overland. Cayman is spending millions of dollars every year housing, processing and repatriating Cubans who end their journeys here because of vessel failures and other problems.

The US Department of Homeland Security cited “significant increase” in migrant crossing as one of the reasons to end the policy, arguing that more Cubans are taking those dangerous routes out of fear that their window of opportunity is closing.</s>President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he was ending a longstanding immigration policy that allowed any Cuban who made it to U.S. soil to stay and become a legal resident.

In a statement, Obama said the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy was "designed for a different era" of U.S.-Cuba relations.

Under the new policy, which takes effect immediately, Cubans who attempt to enter the U.S. illegally without qualifying for humanitarian relief will be sent back to the island.

"By taking this step," Obama said, "we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries."

Obama added that the Havana government had agreed to accept Cubans ordered to leave the U.S., a concession that was a focus of months of negotiations. A senior administration official told the Associated Press the Cubans gave no assurances about treatment of those sent back to the country, but said political asylum remains an option for those concerned about persecution if they return.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the move "goes a long way to putting our relationship with Cuba on equal terms with our relationships with other neighbors."

Obama is using an administrative rule change to end the policy. President-elect Donald Trump could undo that rule after he is sworn in next week. He has criticized Obama's moves to improve relations with Cuba. But ending a policy that has allowed hundreds of thousands of people to come to the United States without a visa also aligns with Trump's commitment to tough immigration policies.

The "wet foot, dry foot" policy was put in place in 1995 by then-President Bill Clinton as a revision of a more liberal immigration policy. Until then, Cubans caught at sea trying to make their way to the United States were allowed into the country and were able to become legal residents after a year. The U.S. was reluctant to send people back to the communist island then run by Fidel Castro, and the Cuban government also generally refused to accept repatriated citizens.



The Cuban government has in the past complained bitterly about the special immigration privileges, saying they encourage Cubans to risk dangerous escape trips and drain the country of professionals. But it has also served as a release valve for the single-party state, allowing the most dissatisfied Cubans to seek better lives outside and become sources of financial support for relatives on the island.



Relations between the United States and Cuba were stuck in a Cold War freeze for decades, but Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro established full diplomatic ties and opened embassies in their capitals in 2015. Obama visited Havana last March.



U.S. and Cuban officials were meeting Thursday in Washington to coordinate efforts to fight human trafficking. A decades-old U.S. economic embargo, though, remains in place as does the Cuban Adjustment Act which lets Cubans become permanent residents a year after legally arriving in the U.S.



The official said that in recent years, most people fleeing the island have done so for economic reasons or to take advantage of the benefits they know they can receive if they make it to the U.S.



The official also cited an uptick in Cuban migration, particularly across the U.S.-Mexico border -- an increase the official said reflected an expectation among Cubans that the Obama administration would soon move to end their special immigration status.



Since October 2012, more than 118,000 Cubans have presented themselves at ports of entry along the border, according to statistics published by the Homeland Security Department. During the 2016 budget year, which ended in September, a five-year high of more than 41,500 people came through the southern border. An additional 7,000 people arrived between October and November.



The influx has created burdens on other countries in the region that must contend with Cubans who have yet to reach the U.S. border, the official said.



The Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program, which was started by President George W. Bush in 2006, is also being rescinded. The measure allowed Cuban doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to seek parole in the U.S. while on assignments abroad.



People already in the pipeline under both "wet foot, dry foot" and the medical parole program will be able to continue the process toward getting legal status.



The preferential treatment for Cubans reflected the political power of Cuban-Americans, especially in Florida, a critical state in presidential elections. That has been shifting in recent years. Older Cubans, particularly those who fled Castro's regime, tend to reject Obama's diplomatic overtures to Cuba. Younger Cuban-American voters have proven less likely than their parents and grandparents to define their politics by U.S.-Cuba relations. Exit polls show President Barack Obama managed roughly a split in the Florida Cuban vote in 2012, and Trump in November won the same group by a much narrower margin than many previous Republican nominees.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama announced Thursday he is ending a longstanding immigration policy that allows any Cuban who makes it to U.S. soil to stay and become a legal resident.

The repeal of the "wet foot, dry foot" policy is effective immediately. The decision follows months of negotiations focused in part on getting Cuba to agree to take back people who had arrived in the U.S.

"Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities," Obama said in a statement. "By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries. The Cuban government has agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals who have been ordered removed, just as it has been accepting the return of migrants interdicted at sea."

The Cuban government praised the move. In a statement read on state television, it called the signing of the agreement "an important step in advancing relations" between the U.S. and Cuba that "aims to guarantee normal, safe and ordered migration."

Obama is using an administrative rule change to end the policy. Donald Trump could undo that rule after becoming president next week. He has criticized Obama's moves to improve relations with Cuba. But ending a policy that has allowed hundreds of thousands of people to come to the United States without a visa also aligns with Trump's commitment to tough immigration policies.

President Bill Clinton created "wet foot, dry foot" policy in 1995 as a revision of a more liberal immigration policy that allowed Cubans caught at sea to come to the United States become legal residents in a year.

The two governments have been negotiating an end to "wet foot, dry foot" for months and finalized an agreement Thursday. A decades-old U.S. economic embargo, though, remains in place, as does the Cuban Adjustment Act, which lets Cubans become permanent residents a year after legally arriving in the U.S.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cuba has agreed to take back those turned away from the U.S., if the time between their departure from Cuba and the start of deportation hearings in the U.S. is four years or less. Officials said the timeframe is required under a Cuban law enacted after Congress passed the Cuban Adjustment Act.

"For this to work, the Cubans had to agree to take people back," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser.

Administration officials called on Congress to repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act.

Officials said the changes would not affect a lottery that allows 20,000 Cubans to come to the U.S. legally each year. But Rhodes cast the shift as a necessary step toward Cuba's economic and political development.

"It's important that Cuba continue to have a young, dynamic population that are clearly serving as agents of change," he said.

Rhodes also cited an uptick in Cuban migration, particularly across the U.S.-Mexico border — an increase many have attributed to an expectation among Cubans that the Obama administration would soon move to end their special immigration status.

Since October 2012, more than 118,000 Cubans have presented themselves at ports of entry along the border, according to statistics published by the Homeland Security Department, including more than 48,000 people who arrived between October 2015 and November 2016.

Relations between the United States and Cuba were stuck in a Cold War freeze for decades, but Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro established full diplomatic ties and opened embassies in their capitals in 2015. Obama visited Havana last March. Officials from both nations met Thursday in Washington to coordinate efforts to fight human trafficking.

Obama said the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program, which was started by President George W. Bush in 2006, is also being rescinded. The measure allowed Cuban doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to seek parole in the U.S. while on assignments abroad. The president said those doctors can still apply for asylum at U.S. embassies around the world.

"By providing preferential treatment to Cuban medical personnel, the medical parole program ... risks harming the Cuban people," Obama said.

People already in the United States and in the pipeline under both "wet foot, dry foot" and the medical parole program will be able to continue the process toward getting legal status.

Reaction to the announcement in Havana was muted Thursday afternoon.

"This was bound to happen at some point," said taxi driver Guillermo Britos, 35. "It could impose a more normal dynamic on emigration, so that not so many people die at sea, but it could also take an escape valve away from the government, which was getting hard currency from the emigrants."

Anti-Castro Cubans in Miami were mixed in their responses, with some expressing anger at Obama for what they called another betrayal of ordinary Cubans. Others said they thought the measure would increase pressure for change in Cuba.

"People who can't leave, they could create internal problems for the regime," said Jorge Gutierrez, an 80-year-old veteran of the Bay of Pigs invasion. But he added, "From the humanitarian point of view, it's taking away the possibility of a better future from the people who are struggling in Cuba."

Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who emigrated from Cuba as a child, decried the elimination of the medical parole programs, calling it a "foolhardy concession to a regime that sends its doctors to foreign nations in a modern-day indentured servitude."

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Kevin Freking in Washington, Gisela Salomon and Michael Weissenstein in Miami, Bill Barrow in Atlanta and correspondent Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this report.

Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap and Julie Pace at www.twitter.com/jpaceDC



 Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>President Barack Obama is ending a longstanding immigration policy that allows any Cuban who makes it to US soil to stay and become a legal resident, a senior administration official said Thursday.

The repeal of the “wet foot, dry foot” policy is effective immediately, according the official. The decision follows months of negotiations focused in part on getting Cuba to agree to take back people who had arrived in the US.

The US and Cuba planned to issue a joint statement later Thursday. The official insisted on anonymity in order to detail the change ahead of the announcement.

The official said the Cubans gave no assurances about treatment of those sent back to the country, but said political asylum remains an option for those concerned about persecution if they return.

Obama is using an administrative rule change to end the policy. Donald Trump could undo that rule after becoming president next week. He has criticized Obama’s moves to improve relations with Cuba. But ending a policy that has allowed hundreds of thousands of people to come to the US without a visa also aligns with Trump’s commitment to tough immigration policies.

The “wet foot, dry foot” policy was put in place in 1995 by Bill Clinton as a revision of a more liberal immigration policy. Until then, Cubans caught at sea trying to make their way to the US were allowed into the country and were able to become legal residents after a year. The US was reluctant to send people back to the communist island then run by Fidel Castro, and the Cuban government also generally refused to accept repatriated citizens.

The Cuban government has in the past complained bitterly about the special immigration privileges, saying they encourage Cubans to risk dangerous escape trips and drain the country of professionals. But it has also served as a release valve for the single-party state, allowing the most dissatisfied Cubans to seek better lives outside and become sources of financial support for relatives on the island.

Relations between the US and Cuba were stuck in a cold war freeze for decades, but Obama and Cuban president Raúl Castro established full diplomatic ties and opened embassies in their capitals in 2015. Obama visited Havana last March.

US and Cuban officials were meeting Thursday in Washington to coordinate efforts to fight human trafficking. A decades-old US economic embargo, though, remains in place as does the Cuban Adjustment Act which lets Cubans become permanent residents a year after legally arriving in the US.

The official said that in recent years, most people fleeing the island have done so for economic reasons or to take advantage of the benefits they know they can receive if they make it to the US.

The official also cited an uptick in Cuban migration, particularly across the US-Mexico border – an increase the official said reflected an expectation among Cubans that the Obama administration would soon move to end their special immigration status.

Since October 2012, more than 118,000 Cubans have presented themselves at ports of entry along the border, according to statistics published by the homeland security department. During the 2016 budget year, which ended in September, a five-year high of more than 41,500 people came through the southern border. An additional 7,000 people arrived between October and November.

The influx has created burdens on other countries in the region that must contend with Cubans who have yet to reach the US border, the official said.

The Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program, which was started by President George W Bush in 2006, is also being rescinded. The measure allowed Cuban doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to seek parole in the US while on assignments abroad.

People already in the pipeline under both “wet foot, dry foot” and the medical parole program will be able to continue the process toward getting legal status.

The preferential treatment for Cubans reflected the political power of Cuban-Americans, especially in Florida, a critical state in presidential elections. That has been shifting in recent years. Older Cubans, particularly those who fled Castro’s regime, tend to reject Obama’s diplomatic overtures to Cuba. Younger Cuban-American voters have proven less likely than their parents and grandparents to define their politics by US-Cuba relations. Exit polls show Obama managed roughly a split in the Florida Cuban vote in 2012, and Trump in November won the same group by a much narrower margin than many previous Republican nominees.</s>President Barack Obama is ending a longstanding immigration policy that allows any Cuban who makes it to US soil to stay and become a legal resident, a senior administration official said Thursday.

The repeal of the "wet foot, dry foot" policy is effective immediately, according the official. The decision follows months of negotiations focused in part on getting Cuba to agree to take back people who had arrived in the US

The US and Cuba planned to issue a joint statement late on Thursday. The official insisted on anonymity in order to detail the change ahead of the announcement.

The official said the Cubans gave no assurances about treatment of those sent back to the country, but said political asylum remains an option for those concerned about persecution if they return.</s>WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is ending the "wet foot, dry foot" policy that granted residency to Cubans who arrived in the United States without visas.

 

That's according to a senior administration official, who said the policy change was effective immediately.

 

The official said the U.S. and Cuba have spent several months negotiating the change, including an agreement from Cuba to allow those turned away from the U.S. to return.

 

The move comes about a week before President Barack Obama leaves office and is likely the last major change he will make to his overhaul of the U.S. relationship with Cuba.

 

The official insisted on anonymity in order to detail the policy ahead of an official announcement.
President Barack Obama announces the end of the wet feet, dry feet policy, which previously allowed undocumented immigrants from Cuba to become permanent residents.