Should the U.S. Lift the Cuban Embargo? Yes; It Already Has; and It Depends! is part of the 2013 Annual Proceedings of The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy.

Should the U.S. Lift the Cuban Embargo? Yes; It Already Has; and It Depends!

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Folding cubanidad : a Deleuzian approach to contemporary Cuban cinema

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence that the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, the U.S. immigration policy that gives Cuban immigrants a unique advantage to permanently settle in the United States, is no longer working as intended. The policy was originally created to aid Cubans fleeing Fidel Castro’s communist regime and the nationalization of private industries, amongst other decrees. I provide this evidence through a set of six longitudinal analyses demonstrating the changing demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Cuban immigrants between 1959 and 2014. Using data from U.S. Decennial Census and the American Community Survey, I show how the average age, percentage of males, educational attainment, percentage of white-collar workers, average personal income, and the percentage of self-identified whites have changed within the Cuban immigrant population during this time period. More specifically, my study finds that the likely profile of a Cuban émigré has evolved from a political refugee (a wealthy, college educated, white-collar worker) into what appears to be an economic émigré (middle class, no college education, blue-collar worker) between 1959 and 2014. My results substantiate the existing claim that Cuban immigrants have evolved from political to economic émigrés with quantitative evidence, thereby offering policymakers a compelling argument to revisit the outdated policy since it is no longer chiefly supporting political exiles. My findings offer an opportunity for further discussion to craft a new immigration policy with Cuba following the restoration of diplomatic relations in December of 2014. THE ANACHRONISTIC CHARACTER OF THE CUBAN ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 1966 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completing this study was not at all an easy feat, and I have many people to thank for supporting me throughout this process. First, I would like to thank Dr. MacKay, the chair of my Honors Thesis. Despite not having known me prior to this process, Dr. MacKay voluntarily took me under his wing and very thoroughly helped me edit the many drafts of my study. He challenged me to think beyond my obsession with acquiring quantitative evidence to begin exploring the ethics of certain immigration policies. Next, I would like to offer my utmost gratitude to Dr. Moulton of the Department of Public Policy for consistently allowing me to take over his office hours to help me run my data. Professor Moulton introduced me to the stata software system (a widely-used data analysis and statistical software system) during his course on quantitative analysis, and I fully credit him with sparking my interest in quantitative research methods. I would also like to thank Dr. Meier of the Department of Public Policy for his incomparable enthusiasm and role as my greatest cheerleader in Abernathy Hall. Throughout this process, Dr. Meier always kept his door open to me to discuss to my thoughts, listen to my fascination with Cuba, and encourage me to “keep pushing ahead” when my research became intimidating. Finally, I would like to thank my second reader, Dr. Louis Pérez, for being one of the most inspiring professors I have ever had the privilege of taking a class with at UNC. His passion for teaching Cuban history and discussing U.S.-Cuba relations manifests itself in every session he teaches, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to take advantage of his expertise during my time here at UNC.

Matias F. Travieso-Diaz

Papers

Immigration Challenges and Opportunities in a Post-Transition Cuba