Bills on Aliens, Migration and Citizenship will be submitted for "analysis" by Cuban representatives in the Third Period of Sessions of the 10th Legislature of the National Assembly of Popular Power, which begins on July 17. The three were published in June on the official website of the Cuban Parliament and defended, days later, by officials with the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) at a press conference.
"There is no limitation of rights," said First Colonel Mario Méndez Mayedo, head of the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Aliens (DIIE), a division of the Interior Ministry. Nothing could be further from the truth.
With regards to the Immigration Bill, some media sources have praised its recognition of foreign citizens' right to inherit property in Cuba without having to reside on the Island, and it can also be said that it gives Cubans and foreigners equal rights; what this means, however, is that, like Cubans, foreigners will also have their freedom of expression curtailed.
Articles 4, 5, 20 and 28 (mainly, although there are others) establish the rights and duties of foreigners within Cuba. The duties include "maintaining a conduct of respect for and compliance with the Constitution (...) and other provisions in force (...) and abiding by (...) the traditions and customs of the Cuban people."
Foreigners who are expelled from Cuba under Article 74 of the bill for political reasons, or when it is argued that the expulsion is part of a sanction for engaging in acts, actions or activities undermining national security or internal order, will not have access to justice.
It should be recalled that the current Administrative Process Law states that the courts with jurisdiction over such matters are not competent to admit, handle or resolve any conflicts presented by an individual or legal person when the "defendant" (the regime) alleges that the conviction involved protecting "national security, constitutional order and/or the interior."
The right to inherit property in Cuba, an area where many harbor high hopes, can also be exercised only by foreigners who are close to the regime, or who at least do not openly express their opposition to it. The Migration Bill sets out the cases in which "an alien" may be declared "inadmissible," which includes the classic "for reasons of national security."
Therefore, a foreigner (or Cuban) who receives an inheritance, but is declared an opponent of the regime, could be deprived of exercising a right that, for the first time, will actually be recognized by law, but these people may be barred from entering Cuba for "having a record for acts of terrorism, trafficking in persons or illicit trafficking in migrants, trafficking in drugs or similar substances, money laundering, carrying or possessing illegal weapons, or other internationally prosecutable acts," as established in paragraph a) of Article 96.1 of the Migration Law project.
Obviously, the regime is selective regarding its prohibition of entry into Cuba of foreigners with such a background, as the Cuban authorities have allowed members of Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN), and of the Basque terrorist group ETA, including confessed perpetrators of kidnappings and attacks, onto the island.
Future Migration Law: Investing, Yes; Voting, No
This second bill, as already announced in November 2023 by Ernesto Soberón, General Director of Consular Affairs and Cubans Residing Abroad, attached to the Ministry of External Affairs (MINREX), eliminates the figure of the "emigrant."
This is not the result of a desire by the regime to recognize more rights for Cubans who decide to settle abroad, but rather a need for them to invest in the island's ailing economy.
In its explanation of the rationale behind the bill, the MININT admits that the objective of the law is "to establish the normative bases aimed at regulating an updated migratory system that corresponds to the current constitutional postulates (...)", and stresses that "in relation to Cuban citizens, migratory solutions are offered that contribute to their insertion into the new Cuban economy."
The new migratory categories established by the bill for Cubans are: resident in the national territory, and resident abroad, in accordance with its Article 26. The second includes investors and businesses, which are "those who participate in the Cuban economic model, based on the modalities approved by law."
By changing the category of "emigrant" to that of "resident abroad," the bill ensures that those who fall into this category, despite being able to invest and enjoy certain economic rights, do not have the very limited political rights that "residents in the national territory" do, like the right to vote in elections and referendums, or to exercise their initiative as citizens to propose modifications, annulments or additions to Cuban laws.
Article 30 states that "Cuban citizens who fall into the Migration Category of 'Resident in the National Territory' enjoy the rights and guarantees established by the Constitution of the Republic (...), with no limitations other than those established by law (...)". The bill does not establish the same conditions for residents abroad.
Rather, it features a third category, that of "transitional resident," which "allows the interested party to maintain a physical presence in the country, until they spend enough time in it to obtain Effective Migratory Residence," according to Article 27.2.
To become a resident in the national territory, it is not enough to remain in Cuba. According to Article 30, those who "intend to obtain the migratory category of resident in the national territory must comply with the other requirements established by the Regulations of this Law."
Said regulations will not be published until the law is approved, which, presumably, the deputies will do unanimously, as they usually do with any bill submitted for their review by the regime.
Future Citizenship Law: who told you that to be Cuban it is enough to be born in Cuba?
The Citizenship Bill, which will allow the regime to strip any Cuban of their nationality, will repeal Decree 358, "Citizenship Regulations" (1944), and is, actually, more retrograde than that rule 80 years ago.
Said regulation included the possibility of denying citizenship to people who sought to acquire it, but once in possession of nationality, especially for having been born in Cuba or being the son of at least one Cuban national, the person could not be stripped of it. This was protected by the then-current Constitution of 1940 and the regulation itself.
The current bill allows both Miguel Díaz-Canel and the Interior Ministry to deprive even a person born in Cuba of their nationality, and renders its maintenance contingent upon the fulfillment of "reciprocal rights and duties."
Thus, one's right to hold Cuban citizenship does not depend on their place of birth, or the nationality of their parents, but rather on their conduct towards the regime. Justifications for the deprivation of citizenship include "enlistment in any type of armed organization with the aim of undermining the territorial integrity of the Cuban State, its citizens and other persons residing in the country; or, from abroad, carrying out acts contrary to the political, economic and social interests of the Republic of Cuba, whenever so deemed by the corresponding authority."
This last sentence in Article 55.1 means that it suffices for Díaz Canel or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to conclude that a Cuban has carried out acts contrary to the political, economic and social interests of the country (read that: the interests of the Government) to deprive him of his nationality.
The Citizenship Bill, thus, is a direct threat to the exercise of human rights, not only inside but also outside Cuba, potentially leading to the loss of other rights, such as that to property, and inheritances. After its approval, a considerable number of Cubans could be left stateless.