Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio questioned Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas about the situation of Cubans who are welcomed as refugees in the United States and then travel to Cuba, where they allegedly say they are persecuted.
"When you arrive from Cuba, it is presumed that you are escaping political persecution and you are automatically eligible for refugee cash assistance, eligible for food stamps, for Medicaid while others who come to this country have to wait 5 years for that," Marco Rubio began by saying.
The senator described the process for obtaining residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act depending on parole and questioned Mayorkas how it is possible that many of these refugees later travel to Cuba on multiple occasions, some even spending periods of three months on the island.
"You can buy things with Food Stamps, fill bags and travel to Cuba. I've seen it, I didn't read it in a magazine," Rubio said, harshly criticizing a flaw in the Cuban Adjustment Act and in the implementation of refugee status.
"If you are escaping persecution, how is it possible that a year later you are traveling to the same country from which you escaped to spend the summers in Cuba?" Marco Rubio asked.
"There is a problem here," Marco Rubio emphasized.
Mayorkas tried to give an explanation that did not convince the senator, who insisted that if you travel to Cuba several times, you should at least lose your refugee status.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was unable to provide a response to Marco Rubio at the time and asked for more time to send him a reply on the matter.
There are frequent reports of Cubans seeking refuge at the U.S. border traveling to the island, and some have proposed modifying the Cuban Adjustment Act so that travel to the island is only permitted once the status has been changed to citizenship.
