The Exceptions to Cuba’s Immigration Reform

HAVANA TIMES — In an effort to stem the “brain drain” suffered by most Third World countries, Cuban airports authorities may stop those citizens previously recognized as “vital personnel,” report official sources.

Statements by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Alvarez, head of the immigration office at the Jose Marti International Airport,” said that those travelers whose names appear in the immigration register may be stopped when they attempt to pass through customs.

While the concept of “regulated” personnel is not included in the language of the Immigration Act, there is reference to “vital positions and professions,” which includes certain sensitive and/or critical professional positions and top-level athletes, though these are never specifically referred to as being “regulated” out in the “public interest.”

According to the note, the term “regulated personnel” is being used by the authorities to explain their refusal to grant passports to former political prisoners Angel Moya and Jose Daniel Ferrer, who have been on parole since 2011.