Until 2017, migrants fleeing Cuba received special treatment from the U.S. immigration system under a policy known as “wet-foot, dry-foot,” which permitted Cubans to legally remain in the country and pursue an expedited track to official residency if they could reach American soil on their own. Those intercepted at sea, however, were turned back.
Nearing the policy’s end in January 2017, Cuban-American photojournalist Lisette Poole chronicled the journey through 11 countries that many Cubans took in an attempt to ensure their arrival in the U.S. with “dry feet.”
Within the last year alone, more than 175,000 Cuban migrants have made the same arduous trek through Central America only to be apprehended by American authorities at the southern border.
Amid the ongoing U.S. immigration crisis and the devastation wrought by recent hurricanes across Cuba, Puerto Rico, Florida, and beyond, find resources below to help communities in need:
- GlobalGiving Hurricane Funds: Ian / Fiona
- DirectRelief Hurricane Funds: Ian / Fiona
- Hispanic Federation Emergency Relief
- National Immigrant Justice Center
- Immigrant Defense Project
- Immigration Advocates Network
