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For NBC's In Depth, Mark Potter told us about the new circuitous route from Cuba in the wake of a Coast Guard crackdown on the Straits of Florida. Potter reminded us of the Cold-War-era law that grants Cubans "unique immigration status" in the United States: "If they can make it to a US land border they are almost always allowed to enter and stay with political asylum virtually guaranteed." The latest land border in question is Brownsville Texas. Nowadays speedboat smugglers travel southwest from Cuba instead of north, heading for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Mexico turns a blind eye because "they do not want to hamper improving relations with Cuba." Once in Mexico, the Cubans head north to Texas before settling in southern Florida, whose families pay the smugglers $10,000 per entry. In the first nine months of this year, 11,000 have been granted asylum at Brownsville.
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