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News > Latin America

Some Costa Rica Mayors Still Reluctant to Accept Cuban Migrants

  • Cuban migrants sit outside of a temporary shelters in the town of La Cruz near the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Nov. 18, 2015

    Cuban migrants sit outside of a temporary shelters in the town of La Cruz near the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Nov. 18, 2015 | Photo: Reuters

Published 12 December 2015
Opinion

But the overwhelming majority of local officials have agreed to provide temporary refuge to Cuban migrants.

​Several mayors from Costa Rica rejected on Friday a request from national authorities to temporarily open their shelters to Cuban migrants stranded at the Costa Rican border.  

Three elected officials rejected the written petition, which was submitted by the National Commission for Risk Prevention and Emergency Care (CNE), on the grounds that the request failed to consider the broader logistical implications.

“They have asked through phone calls to open our shelters, without deeper analysis or clarity into whether we have the capacity to open them,” Mayor Mercedes Hernández stated.

RELATED: ANALYSIS: US Immigration Policy for Cuba: A Cold War Relic

Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of local officials have agreed to provide temporary refuge to the Cuban migrants, according to CNE Director Ivan Brenes.

According to CNE officials, the state entity has allocated $350,000 across 29 local shelters throughout the country, hosting close to 4,000 Cubans.

The announcement takes place as regional government officials have been trying to find a solution to the thousands of Cubans stranded in Costa Rica, after Nicaragua closed its borders last month to the influx of migrants trying to travel north to the United States.  

“Wet-Foot, Dry-Foot”

Cubans have long traveled through Central America in order to reach the United States, often beginning their journey in Ecuador, which allows them to enter without a visa.

Cuban officials say U.S. migration policy towards Cubans are to blame for the current impasse. This includes what's known as the “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy of 1966, which they say drives “illegal, risky and chaotic migration.” The policy grants Cubans residency when they touch down on U.S. soil, encouraging migration, yet does not provide Cubans with legal or safe channels to reach the country.

WATCH: Cuban Migrant Crisis in Central America

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