The Nation - News from March 24, 1985

Cuban-U.S. relations warmed as officials announced that the first 20 immigrants who qualified under the terms of the “Mariel Pact” have arrived in Miami. A spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service said seven of the immigrants arrived in February and another 13 arrived this month. Under the terms of the pact, Cuban President Fidel Castro agreed to take back 2,746 “unwanted” Cubans who arrived in the United States in the 1980 Mariel boat lift. In return, the United States will seek to expedite “preference visas” for up to 20,000 immigrants a year, the INS spokesman said.