A watershed in U.S. immigration policy toward Cuban migrants may be on the horizon as the Obama Administration and a bipartisan group of congressional leaders weigh prospects for more open economic and diplomatic relations with Cuba. A normalization of the immigration policy cast 50 years ago in response to the communist revolution in Cuba, however, is not imminent, nor is it likely to be easily achieved. This report opens with a historical analysis of the unique immigration policy that evolved with Cuba and an explanation of its nexus with other federal policies. It follows with time series analysis of Cuban migration trends. The report concludes by discussing current challenges and issues. Cuba, as a communist state, has restricted many freedoms, including at various times the freedom to travel. As a result, normal immigration for Cubans has been elusive for approximately 50 years, and most Cubans have been admitted to the United States through special humanitarian provisions of the law. The first emigres who came in 1958 were, according to the history of the time, followers of General Fulgencio Batista, the dictator who had taken power in a 1952 military coup. When Fidel Castro defeated Batista and formally assumed power in Cuba in 1959, the exodus escalated, peaking at approximately 78,000 in 1962. In October of that year, Castro stopped regularly scheduled travel between the two countries, and the risky practice of asylum seekers setting sail from Cuba to Florida began. Between 1962 and 1979, hundreds of thousands of Cubans entered the United States under the Attorney General's parole authority. In 1980, a mass migration of asylum seekers—known as the Mariel boatlift—brought approximately 125,000 Cubans (and 25,000 Haitians) to South Florida over a six-month period. Prompted by the costs that the Mariel boatlift incurred, Congress established the "Immigration Emergency Fund" in the1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) to provide federal aid to regions and communities facing more general health and safety problems due to overcrowded and unsuitable living conditions that arise when mass migration occurs. Congress also authorized that funds could be used for border enforcement costs associated with mass migration. After declining for several years, Cuban "boat people" steadily rose from a few hundred in 1989 to a few thousand in 1993. After Castro made threatening speeches in 1994, riots ensued in Havana, and the Cuban exodus by boat escalated. The number of Cubans intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard or the U.S. Border Patrol reached a post-Mariel high of almost 40,000 in 1994. Until 1995, the United States generally had not repatriated Cubans (except certain criminal aliens on a negotiated list) under a policy established when the government became Communist within two years of the 1959 revolution. Not only has the United States been reluctant to repatriate people to a Communist country, but the Cuban government typically has also refused to accept Cuban migrants who are excludable under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The key elements of current policy on Cuban immigration are the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, the Migration Agreements of 1994 and 1995, and the Special Cuban Migration Lottery. Most of the undocumented Cubans who arrive in the United States are allowed to stay and adjust to permanent resident status under the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) of 1966 (P.L. 89-732). The CAA, as amended, provides that certain Cubans who have been physically present in the United States for at least one year may adjust to permanent resident status at the discretion of the Attorney General—an opportunity that no other group or nationality has. The alien must be eligible to receive an immigrant visa and be admissible to the United States as a legal permanent resident (LPR). Spouses and children accompanying the aliens who are applying for this adjustment are also covered by the CAA. Cubans apply to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to adjust as LPRs. The CAA predates the Refugee Act of 1980, the law that incorporates refugee and asylum principles into the INA. The legislative debate leading up to its enactment makes clear that persons fleeing Cuba are presumed to be refugees under international law, but the CAA does not use the language or definitions commonly used for refugee and asylee. Legislative efforts to "sunset" the CAA or repeal it outright have not been successful; however, in 1996 Congress enacted language stipulating that the CAA would be repealed when Cuba became a democracy. "Normalizing" migration between the two nations was the stated purpose of the migration agreement signed on September 9, 1994, when the status quo of U.S. policy toward Cuban migrants was altered significantly. The plan's objectives of safe, legal, and orderly immigration relied on six points. The United States agreed to no longer permit Cubans intercepted at sea to come to the United States; rather, Cubans would be placed in a safe haven camp in a third location. Justifying this policy as a "safety of life at sea" issue, Cuba also agreed to use "persuasive methods" to discourage people from setting sail. United States and Cuba reaffirmed their support for the United Nations General Assembly resolution on alien smuggling. They pledged to cooperate in the prevention of the illegal transport of migrants and the use of violence or "forcible divergence" to reach the United States. The United States agreed to admit no less than 20,000 immigrants from Cuba annually, not including the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. The United States and Cuba agreed to cooperate on the voluntary return of Cubans who arrived in the United States or were intercepted at sea. The United States and Cuba did not reach an agreement on how to handle Cubans who are excludable under the INA, but they did agree to continue discussing the matter. The United States and Cuba agreed to review the implementation of this agreement and engage in further discussions. It became apparent that the 20,000 minimum level per year could not be met through the INA preference system or the refugee provisions because of the eligibility criteria. In other words, few Cubans qualified for visas as family-sponsored immigrants, including immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, or as employment-based immigrants (e.g., persons of extraordinary ability, members of the professions, or skilled shortage workers). In addition to those Cubans who may qualify to immigrate through the INA preference system and who may qualify as refugees, the United States decided to use other authority in the law (i.e., parole) to allow Cubans to come to the United States and become LPRs through the CAA. As specifically discussed below, a "visa lottery" program was established to randomly select who, among the many Cubans seeking to migrate, receives a visa. On May 2, 1995, the Clinton administration announced a further agreement with Cuba that resolved the dilemma of the approximately 33,000 Cubans then encamped at Guantanamo. This new agreement, which came at the time of year when boat people traditionally begin their journeys, had two new points. Foremost, the United States allowed most of the Cubans detained at Guantanamo to come to the United States through the humanitarian parole provisions of the INA. Cuba agreed to credit these admissions toward the minimum 20,000 LPRs per year from Cuba, with 5,000 charged annually over three years. Secondly, rather than placing Cubans intercepted at sea in safe haven camps, the United States began repatriating them to Cuba. Both parties promised to act in a manner consistent with international obligations and to ensure that no action is taken against those repatriated. U.S. officials would inform repatriated Cubans about procedures to legally immigrate at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. Those charged with alien smuggling, however, would face prison terms in Cuba. Interdicted Cubans are given an opportunity to express a fear of persecution if returned to Cuba. Those who meet the definition of a refugee or asylee are resettled in a third country. From May 1995 through July 2003, about 170 Cuban refugees were resettled in 11 different countries, including Spain, Venezuela, Australia, and Nicaragua. The Department of State (DOS) is required to monitor whether those migrants who are returned to Cuba are subject to reprisals. In May 2004, DOS noted that it had been unable to monitor returnees outside Havana since March 2003. As a result of this agreement, migration talks between the United States and Cuba are supposed to occur twice yearly. No migration talks have been held since January 2004, however, because DOS cancelled them due to Cuba's refusal to discuss the following key issues: Cuba's issuance of exit permits for all qualified migrants; Cuba's cooperation in holding a new registration for an immigrant lottery; the need for a deeper Cuban port utilized by the U.S. Coast Guard for the repatriation of Cubans interdicted at sea; Cuba's responsibility to permit U.S. diplomats to travel to monitor returned migrants; and Cuba's obligation to accept the return of Cuban nationals determined to be excludable from the United States. As a consequence of the migration agreements and interdiction policy, a "wet foot/dry foot" practice toward Cuban migrants has evolved. Put simply, Cubans who do not reach the shore (i.e., dry land), are returned to Cuba unless they cite fears of persecution. Those Cubans who successfully reach the shore are inspected by DHS and generally permitted to stay in the United States and adjust under CAA the following year. Since the 1994 migration agreement, the United States has conducted three visa lottery open seasons to implement the Special Cuban Migration Program. The three open seasons were at two-year intervals: FY1994, FY1996, and FY1998.