Eckstein Interviewed in BU Research
Susan Eckstein, Professor of International Relations and Sociology at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, has been profiled by BU Research for her ongoing scholarship on Cuban migration policy.
Eckstein’s interview, published on August 26, discussed her upcoming book, which will focus on the exceptional privileges Cubans have traditionally received in the immigration process, as well as predicting some changes in Cuba policy as relations between Washington and Havana evolve in the next few years. The article is entitled “Door From Cuba Has Been Held Open.”
From the text of the interview:
I doubt that US-Cuba immigration policy will change before the 2016 election. There is not enough support yet in Congress to vote to sunset the Cuban Adjustment Act, especially as long as the Cuban American members of Congress want to keep intact the legislation that privileges Cubans. Other members of Congress tend to defer to the Cuban American legislators on Cuba policy. If the Cuban American bloc in Congress weakens or if Cuban American legislators decide they no longer want to encourage new immigration from Cuba, then change in the law is likely. In terms of the bilateral agreement Clinton signed, that is likely to remain. Relations with Cuba would sour if the US pulled out of the agreement—just when the US and Cuba are on a path to improved relations.
Cubans for decades have enjoyed a variety of immigration privileges. They are likely to lose some of their privileges as US-Cuban relations normalize, but the changes will not be easy because US-Cuba immigration policy is now entrenched in domestic politics, not merely or mainly foreign relations.
You can read the entire interview here.
Eckstein is the author of four books, most recently of The Immigrant Divide: How Cuban Americans Changed the U.S. and Their Homeland, and editor/co-editor of another four books in English (most recently of How Immigrants Impact Their Homelands [co-authored]). Learn more about her here.