It was January 9, 1959 that Fidel Castro and his army arrived in Havana in a triumphant overthrow of the Fulgencio Batista regime in Cuba. Many in the U.S., State Department had publicly supported Castro but were embarrassed to learn of his communist affiliations with Russia. This was followed by repeated unsuccessful efforts to overthrow the Castro regime including the ill-fated "Bay of Pigs" disaster.
Meanwhile, there began a mass migration of Cubans to the U.S. using a roundtrip airline ticket as a ruse to satisfy Cuban and American immigration officials; however, these Cuban visitors simply never returned to Cuba.
By 1966, there were hundreds of thousands of Cubans residing in the U.S. with no legal status; hence, the "Cuban Adjustment Act" was passed as some sort of solution. Under this act, any person who claimed possible persecution and could prove Cuban citizenship was and is, paroled into the U.S. One year and one day later, they can apply for legal status and become eligible for citizenship after five years - provided they have no criminal or fraud conviction.
In 1995, The Clinton Administration, after talks with the Cuban government, made a minor change to the law. Prior to these discussions, the U.S. would admit all Cubans, even those found at sea. After discussions, it was agreed the U.S. would stop admitting people found at sea. This became known as the "wet foot, dry foot" policy.
The Cuban Adjustment Act, enacted in 1966, is the only law in history that has paroled foreign nationals into the U.S. for more than four consecutive decades.
But the real question is why has this country allowed the Cuban Adjustment Act to continue? Any political danger and persecution of Cubans associated with the ill-fated overthrow of the Castro regime has long since passed.
On the other hand, if 11 million illegal immigrants are granted a path to citizenship, why would anyone pursue all that red tape of legal entry when all they have to do is rush across the border and wait for someone to propose another amnesty? And indeed, shortly after the Senate version of immigration reform hit the news media, it was reported the number of illegals crossing the Mexican border nearly tripled.
As a nation, Americans would like to believe this country offers a level playing field with equal opportunity for everyone and "Justice for all," as is often repeated in the pledge of allegiance. It appears, however, that some immigration laws during the past two hundred years have not lived up to the standards of fair play.
Is it too much to ask that these high powered Congressmen offer solutions which represent the "best interests of the American people" or, at the very least, consider the impact of un-regulated immigration with respect to terrorism? What do we know about these millions of non-citizens? This country went to war because of a terrorist attack and has spent $-billions in money and thousands in human lives! Can we say of these 11-million persons who have crossed our borders in violation of our immigration laws, not one is a potential terrorist, or worse?