Obama: No rushing changes to Cuba policy, Haiti immigration laws

Posted on Saturday, 07.25.09
Obama: No rushing changes to Cuba policy, Haiti immigration laws
President Obama won't commit to allowing undocumented Haitians in the
United States to stay, and says any changes to U.S.-Cuba policy may be a
while in the making.
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said Friday he's open to more
overtures to Cuba, such as lifting restrictions on academic travel to
the island, but not without signs of changes from the government in Havana.

``We're not there yet,'' he said. ``We think it's important to see
progress on issues of political liberalization, freedom of the press,
freedom of assembly, release of political prisoners in order for there
to be the full possibility of normalization between our two countries.''

The president also wouldn't commit to whether undocumented Haitians in
the United States should be allowed to stay here temporarily to help
stabilize the impoverished nation. He said he's ``very sympathetic,''
but suggested the issue would be part of a larger effort to overhaul
migration laws.

Obama's remarks came as he met in the Roosevelt Room at the White House
with a panel of regional reporters as part of his campaign to press his
imperiled effort to overhaul the nation's healthcare system.

Several members of Congress and groups, including the leading
association that promotes student travel to and from the United States,
have urged Obama to remove what they said are restrictive regulations on
academic and other ``purposeful'' travel to Cuba imposed by President
Bush in 2004. The Association of International Educators said this week
that study abroad to Cuba has ``declined precipitously.''

In April, Obama lifted travel and gift restrictions for those with
relatives in Cuba and eased restrictions on U.S. telecommunications
firms to do business there. And the administration last week resumed
talks with Cuban officials on what Obama called a ``narrow set of
issues,'' chiefly migration.

But Obama said further steps may take time.

Obama referenced last week's ``government-to-government conversations''
in New York and said that the administration's ``hope is that if we're
seeing progress on those issues, then they can begin to broaden.''

``We're taking it step by step, seeing if, as we change some of the old
approaches that we've been taking, we are seeing some movement on the
Cuban government side,'' he added. ``I don't think it's going to be
happening overnight. I think it's going to be a work in progress.''

Obama said his administration is still reviewing U.S. policy on
deporting undocumented Haitians and would not commit to whether he
supports allowing undocumented Haitian migrants to stay and work in the
United States temporarily. Haitian advocates -- and most of South
Florida's congressional delegation -- have called on the administration
to add Haiti to the list of nations whose citizens in the United States
receive such designation, known as Temporary Protected Status.

Obama said Friday the review is not yet done, ``so I'm not prepared to
make news here today.''

But he said he was ``very sympathetic to the fact that Haiti has gone
through very difficult times, that a sudden influx of people from
Florida back into Haiti would be a potential humanitarian problem.''

He noted that many Haitians have ``put down roots'' in the United States
and suggested that a resolution to the situation in Haiti was ``going to
be part of a broader conversation about immigration.''

In June, Obama invited House and Senate leaders to the White House to
jump-start efforts to overhaul immigration laws. Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano is working with lawmakers on the issue, and
White House officials said they'd like to see legislation pass this
fall, or early next year.

Obama: No rushing changes to Cuba policy, Haiti immigration laws -
Miami-Dade - MiamiHerald.com (25 July 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1156809.html