More Cubans entering U.S. through Mexico

As bad as this smuggling trip was, she said, a previous unsuccessful attempt was worse.

After the boat she was on broke down in Mexican waters, she was turned over to authorities there, and was detained.

"We were held for three months, sleeping on the floor, without any contact with family," she said. "It was really ugly there.  They would make us take off our clothes, they mistreated us a lot. It was ugly--they beat the men."

Finally, she said, she was taken to an airport without explanation, and was flown back to Cuba.  A few months later, she would try again, this time successfully, but insists she would never allow a family member to take such a grueling trip.  "Over my dead body," she said, "It's dangerous."

Increased violence draws attention
Recently, news of four murders near Cancun, the international resort destination, filled the headlines and cast a spotlight on the lucrative business of trafficking Cuban immigrants.

In August, the bodies of three men and a woman were discovered bound and shot to death. Mexican authorities said they suspected the victims were linked to a Cuban-American smuggling ring, and had been executed in a dispute. 

Three of the bodies were found in a natural well known as a "cenote."  A Mexican prosecutor said the killers had painted a red arrow along a highway so the bodies could be located.

From the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, another man, who allowed us to only use his first name--Mario--claimed his brother is also missing after being lured by a promise of lots of money to work on a smugglers boat. Mario feared his brother is either dead, or languishing in a Cuban prison.

In an attempt to find his brother, who was a deep-sea fisherman, Mario said he has spent the last two years investigating the Cuban smuggling business in Mexico.  "It's a massive operation within the Yucatan Peninsula and Miami, Florida, that's sponsored by people who have money, who are interested in getting people out," he said.

Mexican fishermen can make as much money in one successful smuggling trip to and from Cuba, he said, as they could earn in six months of legitimate work on the water. "They're aware of what they're going out there to do," he added. "Nobody's going to offer you that kind of money for a smooth easy job that isn't dangerous."

Mexican government refuses to comment
Despite repeated requests for an interview by NBC News and the Spanish-language network Telemundo, Mexican government officials refused to comment publicly about the smuggling trade, saying they didn't want to hamper improving relations with Cuba. 

Other authorities and experts, though, in Mexico and the U.S. said that while Mexico will repatriate Cuban migrants intercepted at sea, they rarely return those who arrive on Mexican soil--a policy that closely resembles the so-called "wet-foot/dry-foot" procedure in the United States.

Cuban immigrants who are arrested for entering the country illegally can often pay their way out of detention, informed sources say, and are then free to head north to the American border, the ultimate destination for most of the Cuban arrivals.

With the number of Cuban immigrants headed for the southwest border increasing each year now, FBI officials are concerned about who else might be carried aboard the speedboats. 

Sources say agents have interviewed some of the passengers, and are concerned that Cuban intelligence agents could use the illegal routes to slip into the United States.

Ricardo Pascoe, Mexico's former Ambassador to Cuba, said Mexico is trapped in the middle of a decades-long dispute betwen the United States and Cuba.  Complicating the problem is that Mexico does not have a migratory agreement with Cuba, and is officially unable to repatriate Cuban immgrants after they arrive in Mexico.

"It's a real dilemma," he said.  "It's a dilemma that's not been solved, and that needs to be solved."

A special immigration privilege
At the secondary inspection office at the Brownsville Port of Entry, CBP officers are suspicious of many of the stories they hear from the Cuban asylum applicants.

Some of them say they flew legally from Cuba to Mexico or Honduras.  While in many cases that is likely true, some immigrants when asked for their Cuban passports either say they lost them, or claim the pages with the appropriate immigration stamps that would have proved they took the legal trip were ripped out.

Officers believe the Cubans are fearful of exposing the smugglers, and lie to protect them.  Despite that, the likelihood is the passengers will still be cleared into the U.S. during a procedure that usually takes less than an hour.

Because of a federal law passed during the Cold War--the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966--Cubans enjoy a unique immigration status in the United States. If they can make it to U.S. soil, they're almost always allowed to stay in the country, even if they were smuggled.

After a year, they can apply for U.S. residency.

With reference to the well-known "wet-foot/dry foot" policy that requires Cubans caught at sea to be repatriated, but lets those who step on land stay in the country, officials joke that the many Cubans walking across the arid Texas border have a "dusty foot."

A passionate argument
Aside from their concerns, CBP officers working at that border crossing can't help but note the relief expressed by the Cubans who have just been cleared for entry. "When you see the excitement on their face, that's something that you do understand," said Michael Freeman, the Port Director. "Some of them kiss the ground, they say thank you very much."

The method by which most of them arrived, though, is increasingly controversial, and is the subject of passionate arguments. Some see the smugglers as a necessary evil for family reunification and escape from the social and political hardships of Cuba. A U.S. Coast Guard official conceded that most of the Cuban-American family members who pay for the illegal trips have never committed any other crime, but feel this is the only way to bring in their relatives. 

Others argue the smugglers are vile opportunists, interested only in money, with little concern for the safety of their passengers. Federal prosecutors have targeted some of the smugglers, and have won numerous convictions leading to years of prison time.

By shifting many of their operations through Mexico, the smuggling organizations have made it more difficult now for the authorities to stop them.  Unfortunately for the Cuban passengers, it's also more trying and dangerous.

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