WRITTEN BY WILLIAM SAUNDERS CLARKE
TUESDAY, 30 AUGUST 2011 05:42
Medicare fraud, government corruption, preferential treatment for public funding, priority access to government handouts and social services, and American job losses due to bilingualism; doesn’t come close to the true cost of Cuban immigration to South Florida.

Having recently gone through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Americans suffered the steepest decline in household net worth on record since World-War II. According to National Bureau of Economic Research, the recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. Given the current state of the economy, many Floridians would disagree.

As of July 2011, the unemployment rate for Florida was 10.7 percent, while Miami’s jobless rate stood at 12.5 percent—almost 2 percentage points higher than the state average and over 3 percentage points higher than the national average.

The frustration and helplessness Miami-Dade county residents have felt due to the economy finally boiled over into outrage when citizens learned that county leaders gave aides hefty raises, while foreclosures and the unemployment rate were among the highest in the nation. Government cronyism and mismanagement, tax hikes and corruption resulted in the recall of county Mayor Carlos Alvarez in March.

More recently, Miami City Manager Johnny Martinez declared Florida’s ‘financial urgency’ statute to cover a $61 million shortfall. The statute allows the city to renegotiate new labor contracts. Labor Unions unwilling to endure additional cuts are threatening to recall city Mayor Thomas Regalado who initiated the move.

Marielitos


Ever since Hector Sanyustiz drove a bus through the fence of the Peruvian embassy in Havana demanding political asylum in April 1980, Fidel Castro opened a Pandora’s Box, with the blessing of President Jimmy Carter, giving the green light to anyone wishing to leave Cuba by opening the port of Mariel. Castro only acquiesced to save face in light a possible failed revolution, with over 10,000 Cubans at the embassy seeking asylum. The result was the Mariel Boat lift that unleashed over 125,000 Cubans upon Miami.

As the mass exodus commenced, the Carter administration discovered that a number the exiles were from Cuban jails and mental health facilities. Some estimates put the number of undesirables from as low as 7,500 to as high as 40,000. Soon, thousands more followed and crime in Miami was the order of the day.

In the meantime, white flight began in earnest with thousands fleeing to various parts of North Florida generating the now infamous bumper sticker, “Will the last American to leave Miami please bring the flag.”

A mostly white Miami police department scrambled to hire more police officers. Many were criminals themselves and with little or no training, the Miami police department became one of the most corrupt law enforcement agencies in the nation.



Blacks and Cubans


The Cuban wave had a particularly adverse impact on Miami’s black population. Unlike whites, blacks could not afford the move north to escape the Cuban crime wave. Already dealing with racism throughout America, blacks now had to endure yet another insult.

The Cuban Adjustment Act allowed the United States to grant political asylum to Cubans as political refugees and as such, provided them automatic permanent residence status—all without review and without the usual waiting time. The law gave Cuban illegal immigrants the opportunity to work legally, receive government welfare and unemployment benefits and free medical care.

Moreover, Blacks lost jobs because the Cubans were willing to work for less and, to this day, bilingualism is taking jobs away from, not just African-Americans but all South Floridians who do not speak Spanish.

Marvin Dunn, a historian and retired FIU professor said, “They were given preferential treatment for public funding when it came to health services and social services. That impact is still being felt today when you consider the number of African Americans who did not get jobs back then and now have grown children who do not have jobs.”

“It pissed a lot of people off; white, black and Cuban,” said Dunn. “It was completely disorganized. Nobody was in control.”

Cubanomics


Preferential treatment of friends and colleagues; appointing them to positions of power has been a political mainstay and is as old as democracy itself. Cubans, however, have taken cronyism to a level that few American-born politicians dare to tread. Their grip on Miami politics, thanks to the arrival of the Marielitos in the 80’s, gave Cuban politicians a sense of omnipotence—enabling them to operate with relative impunity.

Government corruption, mismanagement, police misconduct, election fraud, theft and ethics violations seem to be standard operating procedure in city hall. Add Medicare fraud disproportionately committed by Cubans, these and other crimes cost American taxpayers billions. For over 30 years, the Cubans have been plundering South Florida because of America’s shortsighted, self-serving political policies and inept law enforcement.

Se Habla Español?

While it is certainly an advantage to be able to speak a second language, most Americans are not bilingual. Americans believe that English is the only language that matters and in the US that should not be a problem. In Miami the reality is, Spanish as a first language accounts for over 65 percent of residents—a direct result of the Mariel Boat lift and the Cuban Adjustment Act.

It is no wonder that English-speakers are frustrated that in their own country, Spanish-speakers have the advantage.

In a global economy, it is customary to do business in the language of your host country. Everyday at businesses throughout Miami, Cubans show their disrespect to America by ignoring this courtesy. Americans feel it is rude and disrespectful for Latinos to speak Spanish in English-speaking public venues and businesses of their adopted country. The burden should be on the immigrants to speak English, not the other way around.

If you live in the United States, speak the language of the land. You are no longer in Latin America. If you are bilingual, speak English whenever possible. To be clear, no one is asking Latinos to abandon their language, heritage, or culture; however, if you consider yourself an American, assimilate and respect our culture.

Look on any job board in Miami e.g., Craigslist, and the majority of want ads look for bilingual-only candidates. The cost is a brain drain of the Miami job market as highly skilled American professionals flee to other markets, leaving Miami in danger of becoming a low skilled, low wage service market.

The Wussification of Miami

Cubans immigrants have asserted themselves in South Florida and pushed Americans all but out of Miami in part, because of their refusal to assimilate into American society. More importantly, Cuban-Americans have influenced U.S. policy by holding their large voting bloc over the heads of American politicians in elections.

It is time for Americans to stop caving to the Cubans and take Miami back. We should demand that the immigration laws that apply to the Haitians, Mexicans and other immigrants apply equally to Cuban immigrants. No matter how unrealistic the task may seem normalizing US-Cuba relations by rolling back sanctions would go along way in stemming the flow of immigration from Cuba. America is still a democracy.

The Cubans have proven repeatedly that they cannot govern without turmoil and rampant corruption. The once pristine Miami metropolitan area, rich in American history, is much too important to relinquish to those only interested in enriching themselves and giving nothing in return.

To give up control of Miami to immigrants who could care less about what being an America represents is nothing short of tragic—something we all need to remember next election.

http://www.thefloridacitizen.com/cuddled-cubans-the-true-cost-of-cuban-immigration

BELLYache


Wow. Jealous, Bigotry suits you.

I came to USA legally and have never been on welfare! Now why would I be jealous of people under the opposite of my case. Why would I be jealous of people getting a free ride to legal residence and cuddled by babysitter(welfare/gov) as soon as they arrive!. Maybe is the people that have paid for the "Cuban success story" are starting to voice their opinion but of course you don't believe in freedom of speech. Is it maybe their opinion contradicts your opinion since you may be in the receiving end of the welfare.

I will leave you to give me an reason why I should feel jealous?

I know it hurts to hear the truth but as the all saying goes: "The truth will set you free but first it will piss you off"

As much as I agree with the article as accurate and factual, we must not lose sight of the fact that among the corruption, cronyism, clanish behavior and egotiscal assertiveness, there are plenty of honest Cubans who do not fit into the category described above. There are still many who have not been favored by Cubanomics and equally suffer along with non-Cubans, the abuse done by certain segments of the Cuban community. Therefore, it would not be fair to clump all Cubans together and accuse them of being arrogant, opportunisitic, unrelenting and unethical.

I constantly meet many who are poor and struggling like everybody else. There are plenty who have achieved success, the old fashion way, through hard work and sacrifice, not corruption and fraud. To blame them all as a bunch of ruthless people, who lack compassion and have no concern or care for others unless Cuban is wrong.

If we fall for this type of thinking it would be the same as pointing fingers at all Mexicans and accuse them as drunkard wetbacks, blacks as criminals, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans as a bunch of lazy welfare recipients, Italians as members of the mafia and Colombians as drug dealers.

Let us not fall into this trap. The reality is and let us remain aware that unfortunately it only takes the misbehavior of a small group to damage the reputation of a whole nation of people.

well, guillermone, maybe you should address your comments to anthonyc, who seems to make the subliminal suggestion that it is the black folks in the USA who are the true beneficiaries of preferential treatment.

says the medieval ape, anthonyc

Proof that dreadlocks is a Bigot
....... what did Cubans do to deserve preferential treatment? they did NOTHING! ......and treat Black people in the most racist of ways.......... the Cubans are just a bunch of uberracist savages, whom they try to avoid, at all costs.

tell me what Cubans did to deserve preferential treatment, and i will cheerfully retract my statement.

It is no secret Cubans are the one single group of immigrants who arrive in the US with an unfair advantage over others who from the start did not enjoy similar priviledges, yet come to ironically seek equal opportunities like everyone else.

As one would expect, Cubans have taken full advantage of their special status, while among them exist a minority that neither appreciated nor wanted what was easily bestowed upon them and unbelievably prefered a return to Cuba. It was not at all uncommon to hear of recent arrivals who found themselves alone and homesick, without the support of their immediate families and unable or unwilling to adapt to the American way of life, head straight back to Cuba after just a brief stint in the states. But there are also others who remained but simply are indifferent or complacent without motivation to make the effort to reach for more. They either did not know how to exploit or cared to learn the ways to extract the maximum benefits of being in America and instead live a mediocre to average way of life.

Unfortunately, it is the ones featured in the article above which show the ugly side of the Cuban Adjustment Act, amplified to make us both sad and enraged to realized there is also a group who not only took full advantage of the system, but abused their granted priviledges to the furthest extent possible, beyond our wildest imagination.

If Anthony really thinks US blacks are the greateast beneficiaries of preferential treatment, he should go back and review his history books once again and perhaps, he will get a more clear picture, a better understanding of black American reality.

In spite of your bigoted, buddy's lies I dare anyone here to show anything that I have posted here that can be considered Bigoted or Racist.


I dare ya!

Seriously, do you really expect anyone here to believe that there is no racist connotation behind you calling Dreadlocks a "moocher"?

Come on, stop trying to insult people's intelligence. Just own up to what you said. Don't pretend that you have no idea that there was any negative racial connotation behind calling a person of color a moocher.

And another thing, one thing that I will never take away from most Cubans is that they are a hard-working people, a close-knit community and have used the advantages given to them for their advancement but it is true that Cubans have a reputation for being very racist; and of course, Miami Cubans take the cake.

Anyone who has any doubts about this can do their own research on the web, can ask other Latinos and even Black Cubans if Cubans are racist and you will get a resounding YES. Now, that doesn't mean that ALL Cubans are racist, in fact, I would argue that the younger generations of Cubans are not as racist, but unfortunately it is already a reputation Cubans have earned. I witnessed Cuban racism personally with one of my cousins when he was dating a Cuban girl in Miami, I watched on the Hispanic news how even many Cubans that live here in NJ, where they tend to be a lot less snobbish than Miami Cubans, openly admit that they were not voting for Obama "porque era negro", I recently saw (again on Hispanic TV) a case where a Cuban girl that was engaged to an African-American man, who by the way, was very light-skinned African American male w/ green eyes, face the opposition of her father because he did not want his grandchildren to "look like monkeys". And this is all without me including the notoriously racist Cuban cops in Miami who have even been documented on video being racist against African Americans.

So, maybe none of this applies to you and many other Cubans who I'm sure are not racist, but again, being antiracist is not something most Cubans are known for. All races have negative stereotypes and this is certainly one of more known ones about Cubans, especially in Miami. Not to mention that calling a black person a "moocher" is certainly not helping your case.

says JEM

And this is all without me including the notoriously racist Cuban cops in Miami who have even been documented on video being racist against African Americans.

thanks, JEM, for adding your input to this issue of Cuban cops being caught in racist exchanges with African Americans. so, Atabey, now that it comes from JEM, do you consider it to be a bigoted statement? i have numerous friends in Miami, and they have all related stories to me of traumatic exchanges with the Cuban police officers. it is not myth. it is not rumor. it is not innuendo. it is a reality. as for the matter of the use of the word ¨moocher¨:..he knows what he is implying, but tries to sophisticate it, by denial. remember, this is the same guy who stated in a posting that the economic collapse of the housing market in the USA was caused by all those inner city people, who bought houses that they could not afford, and by Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, which were basically agencies to facilitate handouts to minorities in search of a home. i do not apologize , for a moment, for what i said. the truth is the truth, and the reason anthonyc is so incensed is because, in certain cases, the truth hurts.