The Cuban Adjustment Act, enabling Cuban immigrants who set foot on US soil to remain in the country, has never been popular with the Cuban government. Their campaign against is increasing as they fight to keep hold of human resources they regard as vital to their economy.
Cuban officials recently called on President Barack Obama to end the controversial immigration policy and cease operating the professional medical parole program. This has resulted in thousands of medical professionals and doctors, who received free training in Cuban universities, coming to the US. The latest demand from the Cuban government was made via their newspaper, the Granma, in which the US was accused of maintaining laws and policies that violate immigration agreements made by the two nations and which encourage illegal immigration.
The Granma article says that the law was created during the Cold War as a method of destabilizing Cuba and that this remains its intention. In recent weeks, the Cuban government has made similar appeals as the nation tries to protect resources in the middle of a slowdown in their economy. This main cause of this is the crisis in Venezuela.
Falling oil shipments from Venezuela has seen Cuba face energy losses. Some neighborhoods have suffered blackouts, and state workers have had employment hours cut. Over 7000 applications via the Cuban Medical Professional Parole program have been approved by the US government. The Cuban government has likened this program to theft.