Obama making changes to Cuban policy
President Barack Obama is ending a longstanding immigration policy that allows any Cuban who makes it to US soil to stay and become a legal resident.
The repeal of the "wet foot, dry foot" policy is effective immediately, a senior administration official said on Thursday.
The decision follows months of negotiations focused in part on getting Cuba to agree to take back people who had arrived in the US
The US and Cuba planned to issue a joint statement late on Thursday. The official insisted on anonymity in order to detail the change ahead of the announcement.
The official said the Cubans gave no assurances about treatment of those sent back to the country, but said political asylum remains an option for those concerned about persecution if they return.
President-elect Donald Trump has taken a tougher line on US relations with Cuba and could undo the change once he takes office.
The "wet foot, dry foot" policy was put in place in 1995 by President Bill Clinton as a revision of a more liberal immigration policy.
Until then, Cubans caught at sea trying to make their way to the United States were allowed into the country and were able to become legal residents after a year.
The US was reluctant to send people back to the communist island then run by Fidel Castro, and the Cuban government also generally refused to accept repatriated citizens.
The Cuban government has in the past complained bitterly about the special immigration privileges, saying they encourage Cubans to risk dangerous escape trips and drain the country of professionals.
But it has also served as a release valve for the single-party state, allowing the most dissatisfied Cubans to seek better lives outside and become sources of financial support for relatives on the island.
The changes would be the latest step by Obama to normalise relations with Cuba.
