Monday’s editorial would be hilarious if it were not that so many liberals fail to see the humor. The Old Grey Lady is concerned about “A New Cuban Exodus,” driven by “hopelessness at home …and fear that the unique treatment Cuban immigrants receive from Washington could end, now that diplomatic relations have been restored.” Under existing law, Cubans who reach our shores have an automatic right to settle here and in short order to apply for citizenship.
Bad policy, and should be reversed, say the editors. First, the Castros don’t like it, so it is “hindering the normalization of relations” with Cuba. Second, it gives the Cuban regime “a pretext to impose strict controls on its people,” something the editors of the New York Times must assume it would not do absent our provocation. Third, it prevents our government from conducting the type of “thorough security vetting” other immigrants receive. That howler is one of the paper’s all-time best: we are more in danger of terrorism from people who are escaping their island prison than we are from the Syrian immigrants the NYT is so eager for us to welcome despite FBI warnings that in many cases we have no way to check their stories. There’s more: “The United States should also end a separate program that encourages Cuban medical professionals on government assignments abroad to defect to the United States.”
