If you got deported after trying to enter America at the U.S.-Mexico border without papers, step forward. Not so fast, Cubans! Over 9,000 of you were welcomed at said border this fiscal year alone. There’s nothing new about the U.S. government considering immigrants from Cuba political refugees and thus granting them legal status as soon as they reach land. There is, however, something novel about the droves of Cubans who more and more each year forego the traditional path between their island and Florida in favor of escaping to Mexico, then heading to the States from there. (Needless to say, crossing the Rio Grande is easier than traversing the heavily-patrolled span of ocean between Cuba and Miami.) Sure, they occasionally get caught by Mexican authorities, but the majority of them are released and sent along their merry way—kinda like what happens on one of your dad’s boring-ass fishing trips. But, as with any relatively new venture, there is a downside:

…the 120-mile trip to Mexico is longer and more treacherous than the 90-mile journey to Florida. It is also easier to get lost in the Gulf of Mexico. This past June, 18 Cubans were found dead on a vessel that floated in the Gulf for 25 days. Only one in the group survived.

We figure admission to Mexico should be that guy’s consolation prize, at the very least so he can down enough mescal to wipe away all memories of the stuff he did to survive.

Cuban refugees come by land, not by sea [Fresno Bee]
Image [Google]