MArco Rubio
My parents lost everything-- their home, family, friends, even their country. But they found something too-- America." Marco Rubio, the junior Senator from Florida, is the child of exiled Cubans. His parents fled Cuba in 1956 while President Batista ruled. The Rubios left shortly before a large wave of Cuban immigration in 1959, when Fidel Castro assumed power.
When a family member was injured in 1961, Rubio's mother returned to Cuba. During this same year, private property was abolished, bank accounts were seized, and politically motivated arrests began to occur frequently. When Rubio's mother attempted to return to the United States, she was barred from departure for nearly a month. Ten years later, Marco Rubio was born. He went on to be the Florida Speaker of the House and a US Senator. |
. The power struggle between Castro and the previous ruler, Batista, ended with Castro establishing a communist government in Cuba in 1959. As Castro took control of the island nation, those connected with Batista fled. These Cubans were the first significant wave of Cuban immigrants, but they were by no means the last. Between 1959 and 1961, about 50,000 Cubans fled their homeland for America. As Castro abolished private property and seized bank accounts, a second wave of professionals and technicians immigrated to the Untied States, followed by a third wave of merchants and skilled workers. As the Castro regime grew more and more treacherous, more and more Cubans fled. In 1962, which was one of the peaks, around 1,800 Cubans landed in Miami weekly.
While it seems counter intuitive, American hostilities towards the communist Cuban regime benefited the Cubans fleeing to Miami. Since the Cuban exiles were also enemies of communism and dictatorships, they were viewed in a sympathetic light to the American public. The expectations of the exiles helped, as well. The Cubans did not expect to stay in America forever. They anticipated the Cuban Revolution to end promptly, as was the case with many Latin American revolutions.
Cuban immigration continued well into the 1990s.
While it seems counter intuitive, American hostilities towards the communist Cuban regime benefited the Cubans fleeing to Miami. Since the Cuban exiles were also enemies of communism and dictatorships, they were viewed in a sympathetic light to the American public. The expectations of the exiles helped, as well. The Cubans did not expect to stay in America forever. They anticipated the Cuban Revolution to end promptly, as was the case with many Latin American revolutions.
Cuban immigration continued well into the 1990s.