A Cuban-American Miami-Dade County commissioner wants to do away with the Cuban Adjustment Act.
Commissioner Bruno Barreiro is proposing Cuban refugees be treated like refugees from other countries and not be allowed an easier pathway to residency.
"Many people and myself have come to the conclusion the law has served its purpose it's time to create a different change, a real change in Cuba," Barreiro said.
Barreiro's resolution specifically asks the federal government to remove the preference currently provided Cuban migrants under the Cuban Adjustment Act.
That preference permits Cuban refugees to apply for permanent residency one year after arriving in America, an opportunity no other immigrant group enjoys.
Barreiro and others feel Cuban nationals are exploiting the law, gaining residency, and traveling back and forth to Cuba for personal gain and not using the Adjustment Act because of political persecution.
Longtime Miami Cuban activist Ramon Saul Sanchez calls eliminating the Cuban Adjustment Act a bad idea.
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"The Cubans on the island are hearing that this law may be rescinded and they are increasingly leaving Cuba through any means they can find and therefore many of them are losing their lives in the straits of Florida," Sanchez said.
Commissioners debated the issue into the early evening Wednesday. If approved it will be sent to the Obama administration as a recommendation only.
