New Cuba Travel Limits Expected

Under the law, Americans who violate their country’s restrictions on travel to Cuba can be socked with a stiff $55,000 fine.

But illegal travelers often bargain their fines down to $500. Some people have figured out that by filing appeals, they can delay their penalties indefinitely.

And as many as 60,000 Americans escape detection each year, according to estimates.

President Bush is expected to announce Monday a tougher policy toward Cuba. He has declared several times since the 2000 presidential campaign that he intends to tighten the travel restrictions, as well as increase aid to dissidents inside Cuba and for the dissemination of U.S. opinions on the island.

But critics of the 4-decade-old limits on travel say these inconsistencies reveal a system that is fundamentally unenforceable. Some observers also say the expected new crackdown is not really designed to choke off visits but to make a political gesture that will strengthen support for Bush among Cuban American voters in South Florida--and for his brother and fellow Republican, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is running for reelection.

The administration is “playing to the political gallery here,” said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), a member of a growing bipartisan group of lawmakers who have been challenging the travel restrictions and trade embargo against Cuba.

The centerpiece of the new policy is the toughening of the travel rules.

The existing regulations are intended to expose Cubans to American viewpoints and help foster democratic values, without economically boosting the regime of President Fidel Castro.

The rules allow limited travel among various categories of Americans. Cuban Americans, for example, can go once a year to see their families and typically are able to get approval to visit for family emergencies. Journalists, academics and members of political, charitable or other nongovernmental organizations are routinely admitted.

In contrast, the rules seek to sharply limit tourism by penalizing average visitors if they spend money on the island, a measure designed to deprive the Cuban government of hard currency.

But many illegal travelers fly to Cuba via third countries, such as Canada, Mexico, Jamaica or the Bahamas.

When they fly back to the United States, they are supposed to disclose which countries they have visited. But if they don’t voluntarily disclose that they’ve been to Cuba, and they aren’t caught with telltale contraband, such as Cuban cigars or rum, the visits often go undetected.

There were about 176,000 legal trips to Cuba last year and an estimated 30,000 to 60,000 illegal ones.

The Bush administration tried to step up enforcement in the last year, with 766 fines assessed for illegal visits, compared with 188 in the last full year of the Clinton administration.

But this effort has overwhelmed a tiny enforcement staff. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has seven people assigned to enforcing the travel rules, or about 5% of its 129 members, officials testified to Congress this year.

The same office is charged with other missions, including tracking down the assets of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O’Neill told Congress in February that restricting travel to Cuba was not his top priority for the office.

Because of its limited resources, the office has been unable to hire administrative judges who could handle appeals of fines. So when travelers have filed written challenges, their cases have been added to a big backlog and held up indefinitely, according to congressional aides.

Bush administration officials are expected to announce next week that they intend to deploy more staff, watch the travel routes more closely and give the Cuba mission higher priority.

But experts say the administration faces two risks.

One is that the crackdown could backfire politically if it limits the travel of Cuban Americans to their homeland. Experts say many of the illegal trips are made by Cuban Americans who visit the island more often than allowed.

They often travel from Miami, Los Angeles and New York via chartered flights that are not closely watched by authorities.

And the administration’s new effort might well be shut down abruptly by Congress, which has been increasingly hostile to the travel restrictions and the trade embargo.

Opposition to the travel limits has come from a heterogeneous group that includes liberals and farm state lawmakers of both parties.

Last year, an amendment sponsored by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to halt government spending to enforce the restrictions passed the House by a 240-186 vote. It died in conference because of the Sept. 11 attacks, which made Congress reluctant to challenge the president.

But some advocates are expecting a different outcome this year.

Sally Grooms Cowal, president of the anti-embargo Cuba Policy Foundation, said the proposal could succeed in both houses, perhaps by veto-proof margins.

And with no effective restrictions, annual travel to Cuba could surge “to a half-million in a matter of months,” she predicted.