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23 September 2003

U.S. Issues 20,000 Immigrant Visas to Cubans in 2003

Burden now on Cuban government to grant necessary exit permits

Under the auspices of the Migration Accords with Cuba, the United States issued more than 20,000 immigrant visas to Cuban nationals in Fiscal Year 2003, according to a September 22 press statement issued by the State Department.

The State Department indicated that the burden is now on the Cuban government to grant exit permits to those Cubans who have received U.S. travel documents. The State Department also called upon the Cuban government to cease denying permits to doctors, information technology professionals, and family members of Cubans who have sought freedom in the United States.

Following is the text of the State Department press statement:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of State
Press Statement by Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman
September 22, 2003

The United States Issues 20,000 Immigrant Visas to Cuban Citizens in Fiscal Year 2003

The United States issued more than 20,000 immigrant visas to Cuban nationals in Fiscal Year 2003 (October 2002 through September 2003). Under the Migration Accords with Cuba, the Department of State is obligated to ensure that a minimum of 20,000 Cubans are documented for travel to the United States for permanent residence each year. The United States is committed to safe, legal and orderly migration from Cuba and to protecting our nation s borders through a sound migration policy.

The burden is now clearly on the Cuban government to grant exit permits to all those Cubans who have received U.S. travel documents and to remove impediments it has placed to full implementation of the Accords. In particular, we call on the Cuban Government to cease its discriminatory practices of denying such permits to doctors, information technology professionals, and family members of Cubans who have sought freedom in the United States. At the last round of Migration Talks in June 2003, we identified over 600 individual cases of Cubans unfairly denied exit permits.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)