Cuban And Haitian Refugees During The 1980s

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Cuban and Haitian refugees arrived in the United States for different reasons; both were seeking freedom from dictatorships in their home countries. Both of these did not start off as dictatorships, they actually started regular politicians’ country leaders. Research on this time period shows that no matter what a person says, the reaction to these countries coming to the US was completely different with very few similarities. Most were different, such as the way they had different experiences when it came to them immigrating to the US in 1980; for example, the economy and opportunities given to them, the response or reception of the local community, and the government’s reaction.
In Haiti, the start of its

Cubans had an easier time settling down and better opportunities. In the book, Miami Now! Chapter 5, “Cuban Miami”, it states “Persons born in Cuba or who are of Cuban descent represent Miami’s largest ethnic group. Cubans account for 56 percent of greater Miami foreign-born populations, and persons of Cuban origin constitute the bulk-nearly 70 percent of all Hispanic areas” (Perez 83). This is important because you can see and tell how the difference in their population size was helping them be able to achieve more because the bigger a community is, the more opportunities they can have. In that same chapter, it also mentions, “It was not until early in the 196os that Miami emerged as the premier Cuban community in the United States. Throughout the history of the Cuban presence in this country, Miami, largely because of its youth and economic structure, was never the principal destination of Cuban immigrants” (Perez 84). Cubans had a diversity that helped them grow into this big community that supported each other. In the end, Cubans were able to easily settle down, while Haitians had a hard time after years of getting support and being able to open their first-ever

If a group of immigrants has the support or a good reaction from the federal government, the better it is for them to settle down in the United States. For Haitians, it was extremely hard for them to settle down without the help of the federal government. In the book, Miami Now! Chapter 4, “The Refugees Nobody Wants: Haitians in Miami”, states, “As the number of Haitians in Miami continued to grow, local government became increasingly concerned about their impact on public services. A 1978 Dade County task force on Haitians called the federal government to grant Haitians refugee status, which would trigger federal benefits for services provided to them” (Stepick III 63). The government was more concerned about how it would cause problems with public services, showing that they did not care about helping Haitians but rather cared more about the causes people with their families were having. In episode 2: “You Left Persecution… The Solution is Not to Put You in Jail”, Danny Rivero says, “Most of the Cuban refugees who arrive in the US during this time are immediately processed and released into the community. Some of the Cubans are kept in jails or detention centers for months or even years on end. But the vast majority were quickly released. This immediately sets up a contrast between the treatment of Cubans and Haitians, who were still facing long periods of detention when they got here” (31). The