Florida: Fewer Cubans registering for government assistance

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Florida officials say the number of Cubans registering for government assistance dropped dramatically after a longstanding migration policy ended in January.

In a Tampa Bay Times report , Florida’s Department of Children and Families said the monthly average of Cubans registering for assistance dropped to fewer than 550 from June through October. That’s just about one tenth of the 5,400 Cubans who were registering each month on average before Barack Obama ended the “wet-foot/dry-foot” policy in one of his last moves as president. The policy once let most Cubans arriving without permission stay if they made it to U.S. soil.

U.S. Coast Guard officials said just 31 Cubans have been caught at sea trying to reach U.S. soil before being repatriated this fiscal year.

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Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com.