"Wet Foot, Dry Foot" Is Now History

I've been arguing for some time that the "wet foot, dry foot" policy for Cuban migrants was certainly under discussion and would be changed unexpectedly and quickly. That time has now come, right before Trump takes office. Effective immediately.

This was a needed step because the policy creates a strong incentive for Cubans to emigrate, sometimes taking enormous risks, and is a Cold War policy that no longer makes sense. The people leaving Cuba are not doing so for political reasons. The much better policy is to help the Cuban economy so that people are less like to want to leave.

Even many hardline anti-Castro members of Congress are skeptical of the policy these days because it was intended to help Cubans escape repression, whereas these days they want to travel back and forth and don't suffer repression for doing so.

Update: here is the statement from President Obama.