U.S. to Try Issuing More Visas to Cubans at Home

The Clinton Administration, concerned over the continued influx of Cuban refugees crossing the Florida Strait in crudely built boats and rafts, is preparing to try to stem the flow by making it easier for Cubans to obtain formal immigration visas at home.

After a daylong meeting of an interagency task force, senior Administration officials decided to bolster the capability of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana--which functions as an unofficial embassy--to process applications from would-be immigrants, key officials said.

The streamlined procedure, expected to begin within a few days, aims to cut back on the number of Cuban refugees seeking to enter the United States by boat--by making it easier for them to go through traditional immigration channels.

U.S. officials also hope it will quell complaints by Cuban President Fidel Castro that the United States is worsening the exodus across the strait through immigration laws that reward those who try to reach the United States by boat while impeding applicants for normal visas.

The move, which could be announced as early as today, marks another step in the Administration’s effort to deal with the Cuban refugee problem. It has been worsening in the face of growing unrest in Cuba as the economy declines.

The Administration has been trying to cope with the situation with as little direct intervention as possible, warning Cuban Americans not to sail into the strait to pick up stranded relatives or friends.

So far, however, these policies have had decidedly mixed results. While Cuban Americans generally have complied with the Administration’s request that they stay at home, the number of Cubans seeking refuge by sailing to the United States has increased markedly.

The Coast Guard reported Wednesday that it had rescued 339 Cubans in 46 separate groups on Tuesday--the highest one-day total since the Mariel boat lift of 1980. On Monday, 272 Cubans were rescued. And indications were that Wednesday’s total would swell to about the same number.

While the influx still is nowhere near as large as the 125,000 who crossed the strait in the Mariel boat lift over a five-month period in 1980, more than 6,000 Cuban refugees have been picked up in the Florida Strait so far this year--double the number for all of 1993.

The continuing refugee flow has alarmed state and local officials in South Florida, who fear being overwhelmed with demands for more social services and jobs.

“We’ve got 271 (refugees) coming in today, including a 91-year-old woman,” said Arturo Cobo, director of the Transit Home for Cuban Refugees, the first stop for many Cubans who make it to Florida. “And there are more out there. The Florida Straits are full of people.”

Administration officials were guarded late yesterday about the plan to make it easier for Cubans in Havana to obtain immigration visas to the United States, insisting that the proposal must receive final approval before it is put into effect.

But Administration policy-makers conceded an announcement will be made soon, and members of Congress from the South Florida area were briefed late Wednesday. Congressional strategists said the lawmakers responded favorably.

Officials admitted Wednesday that the plan could face some snags. While officials believe they can increase the number of immigration applications that the U.S. Interests Section can process, they cannot legally expand the organization’s staff without Cuba’s permission.

U.S. law permits as many as 20,000 Cubans a year to enter through normal immigration channels, but only a few thousand do so because it is easier for them to escape to the United States by boat--an entry that guarantees them residency status and eventual citizenship.

Use of standard immigration procedures for Cubans has been hampered by Castro’s refusal to permit Cuban nationals to apply and by the inability of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana to process very many applications with a skeleton staff.

But policy-makers said the Administration hopes that, after complaining about the issue for months, Castro will be hard pressed to refuse a U.S. request to expand the section’s visa-processing capability.

Besides that plan, the Administration also is expected to take steps to underscore its “message” to Cubans--and Cuban Americans--not to try to navigate the Florida Strait in boats.

This morning, U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno is expected to repeat her warning that the Justice Department will prosecute Cuban Americans who sail out to pick up refugees and will return any refugees who use violence in obtaining passage here.

And Coast Guard vessels are expected to beef up their patrols. Coast Guard officials said the service has cutters and small boats available for quick deployment to the area.

While most Cuban Americans in Miami appear to be complying with the government’s appeal for them to stay home, Cubans who are eager to flee Havana and Mariel are taking advantage of every chance to leave the island in boats, many of them unsafe.

Further, U.S. officials said that the current influx of Cubans is demographically far different from the one in 1980. While the Mariel boat lift brought mainly able-bodied men, the current rush includes a high proportion of women, children and elderly people.

One Cuba-watcher in Miami said a Cuban official has estimated that, along Cuba’s north coast, about 1,300 small boats could be used to continue the “slow-motion Mariel.”

Current law requires the United States to grant resident status--and eventual citizenship--to any Cuban who escapes from that country by boat or plane. “There are not a lot of options under the Cuban Adjustment Act,” one key official said.

The situation in Miami is chaotic. After a meal and a change of clothes, balseros , as the immigrants are called, are bused to Miami, where most have relatives. Those who have no shelter are put up in small motels and channeled to one of two resettlement agencies.

At one, the offices of the U.S. Catholic Conference in Miami’s Little Havana, people packed the third-floor halls Wednesday and spilled down three flights of stairs into the streets. Many were sunburned, evidence of their hard crossing, and most looked thin and tired.

“We give clothing to those who have no family here, those who are leaving town, and we help the others with places to live and jobs, if possible,” said caseworker Esperanza Diaz. “They all just want to start their new life.”

Times staff writer Pine reported from Washington and Times special correspondent Clary reported from Miami.