State Dept. brushes aside Latin American complaints about Cuba policy

The State Department on Tuesday indicated it had no plans to meet with nine Latin American governments who have complained that the ability of Cubans to gain permanent U.S. residency just by arriving in the United States is contributing to the immigration crisis in the hemisphere.

Under the U.S. “wet foot, dry foot” policy, Cuban immigrants can remain in the U.S. once they reach the U.S., either by land or by sea. But in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, the nine foreign ministers say that Cuba policy is causing problems for them, in the form of Cubans who arrive in their countries on the way to trying to enter the U.S.