Higgs Beach * Key West, FL * 09.14.22 *
How desperate must someone be to climb in a boat at night, a boat made in someone’s living room, to cross the Florida Straits to try to reach the United States? In 1966 the Cuban Adjustment Act created the Wet Foot – Dry Foot Policy that read if a Cuban set one foot on dry land they were given political asylum. In 2017 Obama ended the policy so now anyone intercepted on land or at sea is sent back to Cuba. I can only wonder what happens to them when they get back. Here are some shots from one such “chug” on Higgs Beach we ran across last week. I wonder if they made it or were intercepted and sent home? The local Cubans love this country with a great spirit.
We recently rode with a Cuban Uber driver who came here legally as a teen, leaving behind his full family. His family sacrificed everything to get him here. He has not seen his family since, but proudly shared stories of his new family he has created here… a wife and a daughter. Knowing I was passionate about business ownership, he shared a story that he says happens time and time again in Cuban. The government allows someone to start a business. If it is successful, the government comes in and finds some random law being broken, they throw the business owner into prison and they take over the business. He had this happen to a family member. The young man was wearing Ray Bans and driving a Tesla. I thought, wow, those glasses alone cost more than his relatives in Cuba would make in a month. He was so grateful to be here, so proud of this country, so proud to have obtained citizenship. He helped me appreciate the freedoms we have here. We are far from perfect, but still blessed beyond measure.
After seeing this Chug, Bill and I went to the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden to see the Cuban Chub Exhibit and learn more of these boats and their people’s stories. Beautiful, little visited park in the Keys. If you come, be sure to visit and help honor the brave souls who ventured across the sea in search of freedom.
