Wet feet, dry feet policy

Common card · No. 285242

The wet feet, dry feet policy or wet foot, dry foot policy is a 1995 interpretation, followed until 2017, of the United States Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. The original Act directs that anyone who emigrated from Cuba and entered the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later; prior to 1995, the U.S. government allowed all Cubans who reached U.S. territorial waters to remain in the U.S. After talks with the Cuban government, the Clinton administration came to an agreement with Cuba that it would stop admitting people intercepted in U.S. waters. Under this 1995 interpretation, a Cuban caught on the waters between the two nations (having "wet feet") would summarily be returned to Cuba or sent to a third country, while one who made it to shore ("dry feet") got a chance to remain in the United States, and later would qualify for expedited "legal permanent resident" status in accordance with the 1967 Act, and eventually for U.S. citizenship. However, the policy came with...

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