This October is the 34th anniversary of Mariel Boatlift"s last landing
In April 1980, Cuba President Fidel Castro announced that all Cubans who wished to leave the island and go to the United States could do so.
And so the Mariel Boatlift began.
Thousands of Cubans went to the port of Mariel west of Havana, boarded vessels — most of them boats sent from the United States, everything from small pleasure craft to fishing boats — and made the 90-mile trip to Miami and life in America.
In Mariel, Cuban government guard packed boats full of refugees. What the U.S. government didn’t know at the time was that Castro was emptying his prisons and mental hospitals to send off to sea. It remains disputed how many criminals actually came to Florida; the estimates range from about 2,000 on the low end to 45,000 on the high end.
How many of the refugees were actually guilty of serious crimes remains a source of debate to this day.
By that October, when the boat lift was ended by the mutual agreement of the U.S. and Cuban governments, about 125,000 Cuban refugees had made it to the United States. Cuban exiles in Miami and Key West rented boats to bring their countrymen to Florida.
At least 27 migrants died on boats that were not seaworthy, despite heroic efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy to rescue people at sea. In all, the Coast Guard assisted about 1,400 vessels and about 1,700 boats participated in the flotilla.
As with most migration, economic conditions played a huge role in the Mariel exodus.
Housing and job shortages had run down the Cuban economy and help from the Soviet Union was decreasing, leading to internal tensions on the island.
President Jimmy Carter took a political hit after the country learned that many of the Marielitos were criminals. At first, Carter said the country would welcome the refugees “with open arms” but then reversed himself after their identities became known and Miami was overwhelmed with more refugees than it could handle. The U.S. president eventually had to order that a naval blockade keep boats from leaving Florida to put an end to the chaotic flotilla that was putting lives at risk.
Carter had tried to improve diplomatic relations with Castro’s communist regime in the months before the boat lift. But the Mariel Boatlift ended attempts at political reconciliation between the two countries.
When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, he issued a presidential proclamation that denied entrance to the U.S. for undocumented migrants from coming by sea. Reagan’s proclamation was the beginning of the U.S. policy of migrant interdiction that the Coast Guard has carried out since.
A Coast Guard report, written by Dr. Robert L. Scheina, on the boat lift’s impact on the Florida Keys gives this description: “The size of the refugee flotilla was staggering. Trailered boats were lined-up 50 to 100 deep at Key West, waiting their turn to be launched. This went on for 36 to 48 hours; local residence could hear the activity around the clock. Hundreds of trailers were scattered throughout Key West. One thousand craft were observed southbound on the afternoon of the 24th. For the most part, these were Cuban Americans who owned their own boat, typically a 20 to 40 footer relatively well equipped for local pleasure boating. Reportedly, the tanks in numerous craft had inadequate fuel capacity and the vessels were carrying additional fuel in portable containers. This, the first wave, resulted in the transit of 1,000 to 1,200 boats to Mariel in relatively short order.”
There’s little question that the Coast Guard prevented the loss of many lives with its rescue work.
More than a decade later, the U.S. government would try to redefine its approach to Cuban migrants and refugees with a so-called “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy that allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil to remain in the country permanently.
And so the Mariel Boatlift began.
Thousands of Cubans went to the port of Mariel west of Havana, boarded vessels — most of them boats sent from the United States, everything from small pleasure craft to fishing boats — and made the 90-mile trip to Miami and life in America.
In Mariel, Cuban government guard packed boats full of refugees. What the U.S. government didn’t know at the time was that Castro was emptying his prisons and mental hospitals to send off to sea. It remains disputed how many criminals actually came to Florida; the estimates range from about 2,000 on the low end to 45,000 on the high end.
How many of the refugees were actually guilty of serious crimes remains a source of debate to this day.
By that October, when the boat lift was ended by the mutual agreement of the U.S. and Cuban governments, about 125,000 Cuban refugees had made it to the United States. Cuban exiles in Miami and Key West rented boats to bring their countrymen to Florida.
At least 27 migrants died on boats that were not seaworthy, despite heroic efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy to rescue people at sea. In all, the Coast Guard assisted about 1,400 vessels and about 1,700 boats participated in the flotilla.
As with most migration, economic conditions played a huge role in the Mariel exodus.
Housing and job shortages had run down the Cuban economy and help from the Soviet Union was decreasing, leading to internal tensions on the island.
President Jimmy Carter took a political hit after the country learned that many of the Marielitos were criminals. At first, Carter said the country would welcome the refugees “with open arms” but then reversed himself after their identities became known and Miami was overwhelmed with more refugees than it could handle. The U.S. president eventually had to order that a naval blockade keep boats from leaving Florida to put an end to the chaotic flotilla that was putting lives at risk.
Carter had tried to improve diplomatic relations with Castro’s communist regime in the months before the boat lift. But the Mariel Boatlift ended attempts at political reconciliation between the two countries.
When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, he issued a presidential proclamation that denied entrance to the U.S. for undocumented migrants from coming by sea. Reagan’s proclamation was the beginning of the U.S. policy of migrant interdiction that the Coast Guard has carried out since.
A Coast Guard report, written by Dr. Robert L. Scheina, on the boat lift’s impact on the Florida Keys gives this description: “The size of the refugee flotilla was staggering. Trailered boats were lined-up 50 to 100 deep at Key West, waiting their turn to be launched. This went on for 36 to 48 hours; local residence could hear the activity around the clock. Hundreds of trailers were scattered throughout Key West. One thousand craft were observed southbound on the afternoon of the 24th. For the most part, these were Cuban Americans who owned their own boat, typically a 20 to 40 footer relatively well equipped for local pleasure boating. Reportedly, the tanks in numerous craft had inadequate fuel capacity and the vessels were carrying additional fuel in portable containers. This, the first wave, resulted in the transit of 1,000 to 1,200 boats to Mariel in relatively short order.”
There’s little question that the Coast Guard prevented the loss of many lives with its rescue work.
More than a decade later, the U.S. government would try to redefine its approach to Cuban migrants and refugees with a so-called “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy that allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil to remain in the country permanently.
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