The following is a statement by the U.S.-Cuba Normalization Coalition. World-Outlook is publishing it for the information of our readers. The headline, subhead, and text below are from the original. Notes are by World-Outlook.
We also urge everyone to join the campaigns the statement outlines.
In addition, we encourage participation in the webinar, scheduled for July 31, 2025, sponsored by the U.S.-Cuba Normalization Coalition and the Saving Lives Campaign From Our Hearts to Cuban Hearts: Defend Cuba’s health internationalism from the Trump administration’s attacks! (See graphic below.)
— World-Outlook editors
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Trump’s War on Cuba Νow Τargets Μany Cuban Americans
Statement by the US-Cuba Normalization Coalition
For over 60 years, the U.S. government has imposed a harsh blockade along with economic and political warfare aimed at destabilizing and overthrowing the Cuban government. As part of this project, it has also incentivized Cuban emigration by offering special pathways to residency and citizenship if they made their way to the U.S. The narrative that they are “victims of Communism” seeking freedom is misleading. In reality the hardships created by the U.S. blockade, more than political differences, have fueled emigration. These bribes were intended to turn them into pawns in Washington’s war against Cuba.
The blockade of Cuba is an extreme and highly political version of the more general U.S. economic sanctions and interventionist policies whose devastating impact over decades has driven millions of working people to leave their homelands to find economic survival in the U.S.
The first Trump administration claimed to be friends of the Cuban community. But with its obscenely false designation, without a shred of evidence, of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, it dramatically increased the economic suffering of the Cuban people. This designation has drastically curtailed Cuba’s ability to receive credit and make payments for food, medicines, fuel, etc., through international banking channels. This cruel policy included deliberate efforts to prevent Cuba from buying medical supplies needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. An increase in emigration was a foregone and intentional result of these harsh conditions.
Biden largely continued Trump’s policies regarding Cuba. But he also introduced the CHNV parole program[1] and continued Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants supposedly “fleeing dictatorships and failed states.” These and other measures allowed 110,000 Cubans, as well as more than a million Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and others to legally enter the U.S. and work.
Washington is now criminalizing the very people who have been the victims of its policies!
These various temporary programs are in process of being terminated. The Department of Homeland Security is setting immediate deadlines for deportation of all those who “have not obtained lawful status to remain in the U.S.” The agency is also revoking their work permits.
The administration is urging recipients of temporary programs to self-deport before they are forcibly deported.
Perhaps half of these migrants have applied for other immigration benefits to adjust their status and might have a path to remain in the country. The other half will soon become “illegal” with all that implies for family devastation, detention, and deportation by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to who knows where. Already, a Cuban man has died while in ICE custody, and we have all witnessed the brutal ICE roundups of undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
For the Cuban American community this is now a Trump triple whammy.
● In January, he made it impossible for them to send financial remittances to their families via Western Union.
● In June he announced new visa restrictions on Cubans (and many other nationalities) barring entry to the U.S. for most applicants seeking tourist, student, business, and educational visas, thus further narrowing the few remaining legal pathways for families. Fewer Cubans will be able to travel back and forth between the two countries, which will decrease the flow of cash and goods carried back to Cuba — a lifeline for many Cuban households.
● And now the deportation measures.
Where We Stand
● The International US-Cuba Normalization Conference Coalition unequivocally opposes the potential forced expulsion of the Cubans, just as we oppose the expulsion of all other immigrants who have been driven or lured to the U.S. for economic survival. They should be allowed to become full legal residents.
● We oppose the bans on travel from Cuba, as we oppose Washington’s long-standing restrictions on travel to Cuba.
● We call for Cuban Americans to once again be able to send money to their families in Cuba via remittances with no restrictions in amount.
● We call for an end to economic sanctions that destroy lives and communities, and in the case of Cuba we campaign for the complete ending of the blockade and of Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
A growing movement in the United States, and U.S. public opinion as a whole, opposes the blockade and supports the normalization of relations with Cuba.
Let’s build Bridges of Love between the U.S. and Cuba.
No Deportations!
No Travel Bans!
No Blockade!
NOTES
[1] The CHNV Parole Program — formally known as the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans — is a set of programs that allowed eligible nationals from these countries to enter and stay in the United States for up to two years. Established by the Biden Administration in January 2023, the CHNV approved individuals to travel to and work in the United States provided they met certain criteria, including having a sponsor in the United States. By January 2025, approximately 532,000 people had been granted parole through the CHNV. The Trump administration terminated the program on April 24, 2025, and those granted parole under its provisions were expected to depart the United States if they didn’t have another lawful basis to remain.
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Categories: Cuba/Cuba Solidarity