Eckstein: No Privileges for Cuban Immigrants
Susan Eckstein, professor of International Relations and Sociology at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, argued that a newfound relationship with Cuba must mean the end of special privileges for Cuban immigrants.
Eckstein made her case in Reuters, writing a Jan. 6 post for their analysis blog The Great Debate called Time to end special privileges for Cuban Immigrants.
In the piece, Eckstein states:
In Washington’s overhauled Cuba immigration policy, Cubans should have the same rights as other foreign-born immigrants — no more, no less. The minority who seek refuge from persecution qualify for admission independent of the Cuban Adjustment Act and independent of Clinton’s bilateral immigration agreement. Their refugee rights should be protected.
Both the Cuban-American political leadership and the Obama administration have created an opening to address the outdated U.S. policy on Cuba. It is time to stop unjustly favoring Cubans above all other immigrants.
You can read the entire article 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]). She has also published two books in Spanish and authored about seven dozen articles, winning several awards for her publications. She has held grants and fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Social Science Research Council, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Institute for World Order, a Mellon-MIT grant, the Ford Foundation, and the Tinker Foundation. She has served as President of the Latin American Studies Association and of the New England Council on Latin America.