Wet feet, dry feet policy

The wet feet, dry feet policy or wet foot, dry foot policy is a 1995 interpretation, followed until 2017, of the United States Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.

The original Act directs that anyone who emigrated from Cuba and entered the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later; prior to 1995, the U.S. government allowed all Cubans who reached U.S. territorial waters to remain in the U.S. After talks with the Cuban government, the Clinton administration came to an agreement with Cuba that it would stop admitting people intercepted in U.S. waters.

Under this 1995 interpretation, a Cuban caught on the waters between the two nations (having "wet feet") would summarily be returned to Cuba or sent to a third country, while one who made it to shore ("dry feet") got a chance to remain in the United States, and later would qualify for expedited "legal permanent resident" status in accordance with the 1967 Act, and eventually for U.S. citizenship. However, the policy came with increased risk for asylum seekers entering the country. In 1994, also known as the year of the Rafter Crisis, 36,900 Cuban emigrants risked travel by sea.^[1]

On January 12, 2017, Barack Obama announced the immediate end of the policy, saying, "Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal."^[2][3] The last months of his presidency saw an increase in foreign relations with Cuba, including bilateral agreements with the Cuban government regarding maritime and aeronautical search and rescue protocols for Cuban immigrants entering the country.^[4][5]