Cuban Detainees

Mark S. Hamm

Today there are more than 1,000 Cuban nationals detained in federal prisons under special terms of confinement. Most of these men and women arrived in the United States in 1980 and are held as a result of special legislation and state powers that were enacted specifically to confine them. Most cannot be released since Cuba will not accept them back, and the United States will not grant them immigrant status. The Cubans came to the United States as part of the Freedom Flotilla that brought more than 120,000 refugees to the United States from the tiny port city of Mariel, Cuba, in 1980. Most of these people, soon to be called “Mariel Cubans” or “Marielitos” came to the United States because of economic problems in Cuba. A relatively small number of “anti-socials,” political prisoners, and petty criminals were also forced to leave by the Cuban government. The overwhelming majority of ...

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