US and Cuban officials to meet over migration

Officials from America and Cuban are expected to meet in Washington on Thursday to discuss migration issues, people familiar with the matter said.

The meeting takes place as Biden’s administration struggles to deal with an influx of undocumented migrants from Mexico, many of whom are Cuban.

Disagreements between Washington and Havana over the Cuban government’s repression of protests, US sanctions against the communist-ruled island, and other issues have made cooperation difficult.

Two unnamed sources said the Cuban delegation will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio. The delegation is expected to meet with senior US State Department officials.

The US wants Cuba to return more deportees from the record number of Cubans arriving at the US-Mexico border, an official and another source said.

Cuba says it supports safe, legal migration. As a result of cold war-era sanctions and the closure of the American consular section in Havana, the report blames the US for the rise in irregular migration.

After a four-year hiatus, the State Department announced last month that it would resume processing Cuban visas in Havana, but progress has been slow.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in irregular Cuban migration to the US,” a State Department spokesperson said. “Cubans are now the second largest group crossing the US-Mexico border.”

However, he said, “we regularly engage with Cuban officials on issues of importance to the US government, such as human rights and migration.”

Official contacts between Biden and Trump have been limited since Biden took office in January 2021.

Questions seeking comment from the Cuban government went unanswered.

The talks will take place just one day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and regional counterparts wrap up a migration conference in Panama. Cuba is not expected to attend.

During Biden’s first year in office, a record number of migrants tried to cross the border. Officials in America expect even more this year.

After Nicaragua removed Cuban visa requirements in November, many Cubans sold their homes and flew to Managua, hoping to cross Central America to the US.

Central American country Nicaragua said the move was intended to promote trade, tourism, and humanitarian family relations.

The US’s regional effort to reduce border crossings has sparked frustration.

According to US Customs and Border Protection, 16,531 Cubans were apprehended at the US-Mexico border in February, the highest monthly total ever.

However, officials in the Biden administration are aware that any loosening of Cuban immigration restrictions could enrage conservative Cuban Americans, a key voting bloc in south Florida.

Trump reversed a historic rapprochement between the US and its former Cold War foe.

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