Ever notice how when a Cuban national escapes Cuba and comes to the US (usually through S Fla), they are automatically accepted here? I think they can immediately apply for citizenship. During the Clinton administration, the law was changed so that if they made it to the beach, (US soil) they could stay. There have been instances where the Coast Guard was knee deep in salt water trying to capture a cuban national coming ashore and the Cuban would be trying to make it to shore before being caught. So, if the Cuban people can stay here legally when touching US soil, how come it is that the Mexican and all other nationals have to immigrate through the process, but not the Cubans? Am I missing something here?

Having been born and raised in Miami Fla, I will speculate and try to sort this out. (Haven't lived there since 2002).

After the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, President Kennedy, God bless his soul, was forced between a rock and a hard place. During his speech at the Orange Bowl in Miami in, I believe, 1962, he basically told the Cuban people that if they could make it here, they were welcome and share our freedom. Generallly speaking, I hope I have most of this right.

Since then, cuban businesses have flourished. Along with this, political power was gained over the years. New EOE laws went into effect stating that local and county governments had to make sure that information was provided in Spanish (citizens of California and other states might disagree, but I believe S Fla is where providing information in Spanish started, sometime in the '70s).

We have Hispanics as Senators in Fla (by the names of Diaz-Balart and Ross-Leighton. There have been other Hispanic Senators in the past. They have all promoted Spanish much more than getting the Spanish speaking population to learn English. This is so prevelant that there is actually Spanish speaking people that have resided in Dade County for 35 years and do not know a lick of English because they refuse to learn it. To me, this proves that they (including the Senators) don't care one way or another about our culture).

I may be wrong, but I believe that Vincente Fox and Fedel Castro have had meetings. I wouldn't put anything past Castro. I can hear him now: The US will let my people migrate if they can touch US soil, so, Mr. Vincente, how come the US will not let your people migrate so easily? As far as the Mexican people feel, they probably take the attitude that; if the Cuban people can come to the US that easy, then we can too.

South Fla has had its share of reverse discrimination. A story that was put under the rug very quickly a couple of years ago, involved county Spanish-speaking employees. An English speaking employee was told by her Spanish speaking supervisor that if she didn't learn Spanish within 30 days, she would be fired. The woman was fired and eventually told the press that all she wanted was her job back. IMO, she should have sued the pants off of Dade County and set a precedent. She got her job back and her supervisor was reprimanded.