Cuban exile
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term "Cuban exile" usually refers to the large exodus of Cubans since the 1959 Cuban Revolution and in particular the wave of Cuban American refugees to the U.S. during the years 1960 and 1979, who sought alternative political and economic conditions.
The majority of the more than 1 million Cuban exiles living in the United States live in and around the city of Miami.
Most Cuban exiles in the United States are both legally and self-described political refugees. This status allows them different treatment under US Immigration statutes than other status.
[edit] Waves of Exiles
The exiles came in three discernible waves.
The first wave occurred after the Cuban revolution of 1959 led by Fidel Castro.
A second wave began in 1961 amid the nationalization of educational institutions, hospitals, private land, and industrial facilities.
A third wave, sometimes referred to as a second wave as well, of exiles arrived in 1980 during the Mariel Boatlift during a brief period the Cuban government permitted dissidents, convicts and the poor to leave the island via boat. More than 125,000 political refugees reached the United States despite Coast Guard attempts to stem the movement shortly before both governments agreed to end the boatlift.
