More than 500 Cuban immigrants have come ashore in the Florida Keys since the weekend, the latest in a large and increasing number who are fleeing the communist island and stretching the US border agencies on land and at sea.
It is a dangerous 160km trip in often rickety boats and unknown thousands having perished over the years.
But more Cubans are taking the risk amid deepening and compounding political and economic crises at home.
A smaller number of Haitians are also fleeing their country’s economic and political woes and arriving by boat in Florida.
The Coast Guard tries to intercept Cuban migrants at sea and return them. Since the US government’s fiscal year began on October 1, about 4,200 have been stopped at sea, or about 43 a day.
That was up from 17 a day in the previous fiscal year and just two a day in 2020-2021.
But an unknown number have made it to land and will probably get to stay.
“I would prefer to die to reach my dream and help my family," Jeiler del Toro Diaz told The Miami Herald shortly after arriving on shore on Tuesday in Key Largo.
"The situation in Cuba is not very good."
The Department of Homeland Security said it would be issuing a statement on Wednesday, but has not yet done so.
Dry Tortugas National Park, a group of seven islands 110km west of Key West, remained closed to visitors on Wednesday as the US moved migrants who arrived there earlier in the week.
Normally, about 255 tourists a day arrive by boat and seaplane to tour the islands and Fort Jefferson, which was built 160 years ago. Officials did not know when it would reopen.
Ramon Raul Sanchez, with the Cuban-American group Movimiento Democracia, went to the Keys on Wednesday to check on the situation.
Mr Sanchez said he met 22 Cubans who had just arrived and were standing along the main road, waiting for US authorities to pick them up.
He and Keys officials said the administration of US President Joe Biden needed a more co-ordinated response.
“There is a migration and humanitarian crisis, and it is necessary for the president to respond by helping local authorities,” Mr Sanchez said.
Cubans are willing to take the risk because those who make it to US soil almost always get to stay, even if their legal status is murky.
They also arrive by land, flying to Nicaragua, then travelling north through Honduras and Guatemala into Mexico.
In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, 220,000 Cubans were stopped at the US-Mexican border, almost six times as many as the previous year.
Callan Garcia, a Florida immigration lawyer, said most Cubans who reached the US told Border Patrol agents that they could not find adequate work at home, so they are flagged “expedited for removal” as having entered the country illegally.
But the connotation that they will be removed quickly or at all is misleading. Because the US and Cuba do not have formal diplomatic relations, the American government has no way to repatriate them.
Cubans are released but given an order that requires them to contact federal immigration authorities periodically to confirm their address and status.
They are allowed to get work permits, driver’s licences and Social Security numbers, but cannot apply for permanent residency or citizenship.
Mr Garcia said that could last for the rest of their lives. Some Cubans who came in the 1980 Mariel boatlift are still designated “expedited for removal”.
“They’re just sort of here with a floating order for removal that can’t be executed,” said Mr Garcia, who worked for Catholic Legal Services before going into private practice.
A small percentage of Cuban immigrants tell Border Patrol agents they are fleeing political persecution and are “paroled", he said.
Under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, they are released until they can appear before an immigration judge to make their case. If approved, they can receive permanent residency and later apply for citizenship.
But Haitian immigrants are almost always sent back, even though political persecution and violence is rife there, along with severe economic hardship.
“That inconsistency has something that immigrant rights advocates have always pointed to,” Mr Garcia said.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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