The vast majority of Cubans who try to reach the United States do so through routes that, crossing through various countries of the American continent, end at the northern border of Mexico.
And in fact, almost 50 thousand of them received humanitarian visas in the Country in 2022 and 2023, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.
The massive flow of the last two years has encountered a tightening of the admission policy of Cubans in the US, which has forced many of them to remain in Mexico, waiting for an appointment to start the asylum application process or as a second option of final destination.
Of the 65 thousand 820 Cuban migrants detained in the Country in 2022 and 2023, a little more than half -33 thousand 695- were issued “exit orders”, which formally oblige them to leave the national territory, but in practice they allow them to continue the path to the northern border.
Less than a tenth -6 thousand 193- were “returned” to their country of origin. Meanwhile, 49 thousand 978 were granted visitor cards for humanitarian reasons, which allow them to remain in the Country, transit freely and obtain employment, for up to one year.
Cuban asylum seekers in Mexico totaled 35 thousand 606 in those two years and 2 thousand 746 were recognized as refugees. As the figures indicate, Cubans can access simultaneously or consecutively to different migratory conditions.
On the other hand, in the last two years a total of 9 thousand 548 Cubans obtained a temporary resident card in Mexico, which allows them to remain in the Country for up to four years, leave the national territory and work for a remuneration. More than half, 5 thousand 282, of the Cubans who obtained it in the period did so in family reunification procedures and more than a third, 3 thousand 579, did so in Quintana Roo.
Source: Reforma
