Images of American flags burning in Little
Havana, Miami, have flared tempers in this country. The sad spectacle caused
a
deep impression on many Americans, especially since some of the culprits
presumably were immigrants from Cuba, who have
every reason to thank America for her hospitality.
Most Cuban-Americans understand that. Police
officers said flag-burners were a minority among the protesters in Little
Havana. Demonstrations test the democratic spirit of a country, but
they often lure a deviant element. America shouldn't let the
actions of a bad few define its attitude towards Cuban-Americans in
general.
America stands, to most Cubans, as a revered
symbol. Given the repression they were forced live under, Cubans who
make it to America become champions of liberty and lawful society.
It was precisely because of their American idealism that
their reaction to the White House's legally questionable commando raid
on the Gonzalez home was so strong.
But the unrest in Miami has prompted some
Americans to question U.S. immigration policy towards Cubans. Cubans who
arrive on U.S. shores are routinely given U.S. residency. This is in
stark contrast to U.S. immigration policy towards most other
aliens, who are summarily sent back if caught in the country.
Why give Cubans special treatment and why
all the uproar over Elian Gonzalez? The answer is that U.S. immigration
policy
has always been based, at least in part, on generosity towards those
who would face political or other types of persecution if
sent back home. The plight of the Cubans under Fidel Castro's dictatorship
has long provoked the indignation and sympathy of
Americans.
The U.N. Human Rights Commission last week
condemned Cuba for its "continued violation of human rights and
fundamental freedoms." In a report released last month, Amnesty International
said it "is concerned that certain punitive
measures used by the Cuban Government to stifle dissent are becoming
more frequent."
Real life anecdotes are often the best way
to illustrate state repression. Amnesty gives the example of dissident
Oscar Elias
Biscet Gonzalez, a physician, who "has reportedly been detained over
two dozen times since June 1998." On Aug. 14. 1999,
he was detained after attempting to give a talk on civic resistance
and was then reportedly beaten about the face and neck,
burned with a cigarette, put in a single cell, forced to strip naked
and beaten and kicked.
Later that year, Cuban authorities held him
in a psychiatric hospital and were reportedly trying to carry out psychological
tests on him. On Feb. 25, he was tried and found guilty of insulting
the symbols of the homeland, public disorder and instigation
to commit a crime after he tried to organize a protest march and hung
the Cuban flag sideways in protest of the Castro regime.
Meanwhile, "Those who attempt to leave the
country illegally . . . and are subsequently repatriated often encounter
problems
trying to find employment." This poses grave problems for Cubans, since
all jobs are given by the state and it is difficult enough
to subsist even with a job.
Children also have a tough time in Cuba. At
about age 11, children are sent away to forced labor and indoctrination
camps.
Here, the beneficiaries of Cuba's "free education" work in the fields
and are taught communist propaganda. Due to transport
problems, many children see their parents only once every other month.
Cuban-Americans are intimately aware of Cuba's
harsh reality. They are ethically opposed to returning any individual to
an
island prison from which they are not free to leave. This explains
Little Havana's vehement opposition to sending Elian back to
Cuba.
Cuban-Americans' protest of the raid on the
Gonzalez home was an American reflex. The flag-burning, on the other hand,
was inexcusable. But Cuban-Americans are overwhelmingly hard-working,
law-abiding people. They inject the country with
freedom-loving vigor. America must continue to open her door to them.