Wet foot, dry foot, wrong foot

Meanwhile, in Cuba, Obama’s policy created a panic. Many Cubans were smart enough to grasp the twofold significance of Obama’s embrace of the Castro government: First, how this new support from the United States could prolong the life of the Castro regime indefinitely and allow it to rule despotically; and second, how Cubans would no longer continue to be viewed by the United States as an oppressed people.

Those Cubans were right, of course. Since Dec. 17, 2014, repression has increased in Cuba. Secure in the support of the United States, the government has clamped down on freedom of expression, increased arrests and dismantled much of the “cuentapropista” (self-employed) experiment that was supposed to transform and improve the Cuban economy.

Now comes the second repercussion feared by Cubans: Obama strips them of their refugee status just as he heads out the White House door. The Castro government is normal; no more special treatment for Cubans. Cubans are no different from Haitians, or Mexicans or any other migrants. End of story.

Many of those who saw this change coming hurried out in record numbers. The spike in crude vessels full of Cubans intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard has been huge, as has the increase in those crossing the border through Mexico.