Bush: `Wet foot-dry foot' policy will stay in place

BY FRANK DAVIES
fdavies@herald.com

Cuban survivors are brought into Key West early Friday morning aboard the Coast Guard Cutter "Key Largo".

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Friday that the controversial policy of the Clinton administration to send Cubans rescued on the high seas back to Cuba remains in place.

``We will analyze all policies with Cuba, but right now, the same policy that my predecessor had in place stands,'' Bush said during a wide-ranging interview in the White House with The Herald and seven other newspapers.

The interview came as Bush, in a buoyant mood Friday, savored two big successes this week in the House -- passage of an energy bill that includes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and a compromise version of a ``patients' bill of rights'' that he negotiated.

Bush was expansive in discussing ways to keep pressure on the Cuban government -- from ``cranking up TV Martí again, to try to blast our way through the shield, get the message of freedom there,'' to upholding trade sanctions.

But he was cautious on the subject of migration from Cuba when asked about the ``wet foot-dry foot'' policy that mandates that Cubans found at sea be returned.

About 400 Cubans have been returned since Bush became president. This week an exception was made for 20 Cubans rescued from a capsized boat 20 miles south of Key West. They were allowed to enter the United States to help authorities investigate a migrant-smuggling operation. The two men suspected of being the smugglers were also detained.

``We're adhering to that policy while treating emergency cases with compassion,'' he said.

During the presidential campaign last fall, Bush said he would thoroughly examine all Clinton policies on Cuba. ``We're reviewing all our Cuban policy,'' said Bush, but he would not say if he was considering any changes in migration policy.

On a major immigration issue, Bush said he was hopeful the United States and Mexico will reach an agreement by early September that would pave the way to legalize the status of up to 3 million Mexicans and ``serve as a precedent for other nationalities.

``I fully recognize, particularly in Miami and a lot of other places, there are workers here from other nationalities,'' said Bush. ``But to me, it makes sense to deal with the Mexican issue first, simply because the numbers are so overwhelming.''

Referring to different groups, Bush said the process would be ``very sequential, as opposed to competitive,'' while recognizing special situations, as when he granted temporary protected status for Salvadorans earlier this year.

Bush said that economic reality and humane concerns motivated his drive to help undocumented immigrants achieve at least temporary worker status, and possibly move toward citizenship.

As he heads to his Texas ranch today, Bush said he was ``optimistic'' that when he returns to Washington in September he could work with Congress to enact both the energy legislation and patients' bill of rights, along with the education bill he is seeking.

The House-passed energy bill faces an uncertain fate in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the patients' bill of rights must be reconciled with a Senate version that is tougher on insurers.

``I'm more than willing to share credit when credit is due,'' Bush said. ``But a constructive attitude says, how can we work together, as opposed to not wanting to work together at all. I believe we will get a lot of these matters solved.''

On the patients' bill of rights, Bush criticized Democrats for not ``embracing the compromise'' he worked out with Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., on the liability of HMOs. His message to them: ``Do you want to work out the differences, or not? And I think some in this town would rather play politics than do what's right.''

On energy policy, Bush praised conservation efforts, adding that ``we've got to find natural gas to power the plants'' under construction around the nation.

But he said the search for natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico would respect the wishes of Florida -- and his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush -- in keeping drilling more than 100 miles from the coast.

``I told the people of Florida that I would work with the governors, and the governor of Florida, on offshore drilling,'' Bush said. ``We put an offshore ban in place that was more stringent than the previous administration's.''

Bush also said he wanted to continue President Bill Clinton's dialogue on race relations, but on his own terms.

``The dialogue on education is a dialogue on race. The dialogue on ownership of homes is a dialogue about race. There's no question we need to reconcile issues. And if it helps to have people talk, I think that's important,'' said Bush.

``But to me, the best dialogue is the dialogue of results. It's to put policy in place that empowers people,'' he said, touting his initiative to allow religious organizations to seek federal funds.

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Published Saturday, August 4, 2001

Defiant travelers to Cuba paying a price

Number of fines issued by U.S. increases sharply

BY TIM JOHNSON
tjohnson@krwashington.com

WASHINGTON -- U.S. citizens who defy restrictions on travel to Cuba increasingly are returning stateside to find an unexpected souvenir: a letter from the feds demanding they pay $7,500 or so in fines.

The number of such penalty letters has spiked, and unsuspecting U.S. travelers are yelping in surprise at the potential cost of their travels.

``I think it's very stupid,'' said Donna, a 64-year-old retired social worker in Chicago who asked that her last name not be used. After a bike trip in Cuba, she got notice in June that the Treasury Department plans to levy $7,650 in fines against her. ``They should leave people like me alone who do no harm.''

From May 4 to July 30, a division of the U.S. Treasury Department that monitors travel to Cuba sent out 443 letters seeking average fines of $7,500 -- a sharp increase from the 74 letters mailed from Jan. 3 to May 3.

Those receiving penalty letters include New York City high school students and teachers, scuba divers, cyclists, a Massachusetts bird watcher, a Santeria buff from the Pacific Northwest -- a panoply of Americans intrigued by the tropical communist bastion of President Fidel Castro and willing to wriggle under the legal trip wire. Interest in Cuba has surged despite -- or perhaps because of -- a longstanding law that forbids U.S. citizens from spending money on the island.

The travel restrictions are now in roiling waters as the White House and Congress veer in sharply different directions on policy toward Cuba. Staking out a hard line, President Bush pledged July 13 to detect and punish those who visit Cuba illegally ``to the fullest extent with a view toward preventing unlicensed and excessive travel. . . . ''

DENYING FUNDS

A majority of the U.S. House, meanwhile, wants to facilitate travel to Cuba. On a 240-186 vote, the House on July 26 denied the executive branch any funds to enforce the travel restrictions. The measure now heads to the Senate, where observers say it could pass in the fall.

Caught in the middle are people like Anne, a 78-year-old retiree in the Pacific Northwest who recently decided to sate her ``curiosity'' about the tropical island -- restrictions notwithstanding.

``I wanted to go to Cuba, and the way [politics] were going I figured I'd probably be dead before they'd allow me to go,'' she said in a telephone interview, asking that her last name not be used. ``Everyone else is going there. Why can't we? Europeans, Canadians, English, everyone is there -- except us.''

She decided to travel through Toronto -- a common gateway -- but found U.S. immigration officials peppering her with questions on her return through the Toronto airport.

``They are trying to catch people, and they are watching people getting off the plane from Havana,'' she said.

RISKS WERE MINIMAL

For many years, restrictions were enforced with little vigor. Lawyers counseled potential travelers that risks were minimal.

``My advice to people was, `It's not legal to go to Cuba but enforcement is low and the fines are not very big,' '' said Michael Ratner, head of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York City advocacy group that provides counsel for travelers facing fines from the Treasury Department.

Those days appear to be over.

Now, dozens of alarmed travelers are calling the center each month, penalty letters in their sweaty palms.

``They are pretty shocked by this,'' Ratner said.

The steady rise in penalty letters, which actually dates to the end of the Clinton administration, coincides with a growing fascination with Cuba -- spurred by the popularity of its music and dance, and scores of media reports portraying the island as a romantic destination trapped in the 1950s. Many reports gloss over the legal problems connected to a visit there.

Government-sanctioned travel to Cuba is growing steadily, most of it licensed by the Treasury Department. The New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, atrade group, estimates that 173,000 U.S. citizens visited Cuba last year. It says some 22,000 Americans went without authorization, risking fines.

Under the Trading with the Enemy Act, U.S. citizens are barred from spending any money in Cuba -- making travel there all but impossible. Certain categories of U.S. citizens -- researchers, students, religious workers, journalists, athletes, humanitarian workers, lecturers, business executives and Cuban Americans with family on the island -- are allowed to travel under specific or general licenses.

For those who do not fit into these categories, or ignore the law, criminal penalties are possible, although civil penalties are far more common. Civil penalties may range up to $55,000 in fines.

The Treasury Department sends U.S. citizens suspected of illegal travel to Cuba a questionnaire. If federal officials then believe the suspect has broken the law, they send a ``pre-penalty notice'' alleging ``reasonable cause'' and listing the amount of the proposed fine.

In the past, many people receiving such notices called lawyers and began negotiating payment with the Treasury Department. Others, though, demanded hearings to fight the fine. Demands for hearings essentially shelved the matter, and officials say it was due to a lack of administrative judges.

Now, the department says, judges from the Environmental Protection Agency will come to Treasury to begin hearing the travel cases.

Even so, some lawyers are eager to challenge the fines.

``My assessment is that they are afraid to go after this very vigorously. Politically, they are way out on a limb to begin with,'' said Arthur Heitzer, a lawyer in Milwaukee.

TOURISM DISGUISE

Some opponents of Castro say the door to Cuba, while only slightly ajar, still is too far open.

``A lot of the travel is very thinly disguised tourism. When people go as tourists and pay money to the tourism hotels, they hurt rather than help the Cuban people,'' said Dennis Hays, executive vice president of the Cuban American National Foundation, an exile lobby and advocacy group.

In Congress, the issue does not fall neatly along partisan lines. Some conservatives, including Cuban-American legislators, say a windfall of tourist dollars would only pump life into a moribund communist regime in Cuba. Others counter that U.S. citizens should be allowed to travel where they please and bring American values with them in people-to-people diplomacy.

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of restrictions on travel to Cuba in the early 1980s, but lawyers say they feel they have grounds for a new legal challenge.

They contend that fine amounts are set arbitrarily and politically motivated to reward the Cuban-American lobby in Florida and New Jersey that largely supported President Bush's election last year.

Richard Newcomb, the head of the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the Treasury Department, denies that the law is applied unfairly: ``We apply this evenhandedly and across the board. . . .''

Declining to give numbers, a Treasury spokeswoman said people with Hispanic surnames are also receiving the penalty letters.

If Newcomb is correct and the law is applied fairly, a growing number of Cuban Americans can expect to receive penalty letters soon for violating the restriction that limits travel to the island to once a year for family visits.

``The group of travelers . . . who most violate the travel regulations are people of Cuban descent,'' said John Kavulich of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

But some see the current crackdown as compensation to the Cuban-American community engineered through Newcomb's division.

``He's got the best-trained wet finger in the wind,'' said Richard Nuccio, a former special advisor on Cuba to the White House in the mid-1990s. ``He's been able to detect wind shifts and move accordingly.''

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