Immigration Issue Threatens GOP's Fla. Stronghold:
Cuban Americans Angry Over 'Wet Foot' PolicyBy Darryl Fears
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 17, 2006; Page A03MIAMI -- On the morning after Christmas, something akin to a miracle happened on the high seas between Miami and Key West, according to an interpretation of the event by U.S. immigration officials. Fifteen Cuban refugees essentially walked on water.
They clambered out of a ramshackle boat as it sank in the deep, dark Florida straits and clung to the rocky remains of an old bridge. Under the "wet foot, dry foot" policy that allows Cubans fleeing communism to reside in the United States only if they somehow reach dry land, the group appeared to have made it to freedom. But in an unusual interpretation of the rule, the Coast Guard said the partially demolished old Seven Mile Bridge no longer touched land, and therefore the 15 had wet feet.
In any other place, the incident might have gone down as just another example of how the Bush administration has gotten tough on immigration. But not here in Miami, home to the million-strong and politically potent Cuban exile community, where many people say the "wet foot, dry foot" rule is ambiguous and unfairly applied. Outraged, South Florida's Cubans are directing their anger squarely at President Bush, who carried Florida largely on the strength of their vote in the last two presidential elections.
At least one influential Cuban, Pepe Hernandez, president of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), said it might be time for the Cubans to do the unthinkable -- reconsider their unwavering loyalty to Republican candidates.
"This community must face the realization that politicians, especially national politicians, come here to Miami when they need our votes and forget their promises," he said. "President Bush came here and said he would review this policy, and nothing has happened. Cuban voters will be looking into this reality a little bit when they cast their votes."
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