JANUARY 14, 2017 6:08 PM
Five Cubans seek asylum in Texas, likely the first of many
Cubans turn themselves in at U.S.-Mexico border 1:34
A group of Cubans walk across the bridge to the U.S. border to turn themselves over to the U.S. Border Patrol and request asylum. Up until Thursday, Cubans were allowed to stay legally in the U.S. under the long-standing “wet foot, dry foot” policy. Franco Ordoñez and Brittany Peterson McClatchy
BY FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
fordonez@mcclatchydc.com
NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO
Alberto Rafael Ramírez, 29, a onetime bus driver, put a cigarette in his mouth and passed two others to friends as they paced violently, arguing with themselves over whether they should turn themselves into U.S. immigration agents and risk months of detention for the chance of winning asylum in the United States..
Ramírez said they’d be treated worse if they tried to return to Cuba now. Yoanny Iglesia Jimenez, 34, a bartender from Guantánamo, said he was confident U.S. authorities would treat them well. Yoe Luis Santana, 37, of Havana, said he was ready. Jose Angel Castañeda, of Havana, said only God would determine their fate, but after selling everything he had in Cuba, traveling through 12 countries, facing guns pointed at his head, he had no choice but to fight to fulfill his dream.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/n...126658444.html
