Attempts to Repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act: A Public Policy Analysis

Abstract

Historical struggles to maintain, reform or repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act in the US Congress reveal a complex ideological, political and policy-driven battle among a wide range of groups acting in the domestic and foreign policies fronts. Drawing on the methodological approaches of public policy analysis, this paper focuses on three critical moments in which US efforts to reform its immigration system clashed with the influence of Cuban-American hardliners. This group has been successful in using its political clout in order to influence the public debate against repeal, by insisting on the longer term ideological value of the Act in the context of the US Cuba policy, in spite of structural trends in favour of restricted immigration.