How many Cubans were deported as illegal immigrants last year? As you may know, the government distinguishes between Cubans who land in the U.S. (who are given immediate preferential immigration status) and those intercepted in international waters (who are sent back to Cuba as "illegals").
I ask because in arguments for the "wall" along the Mexican border, supporters raise the question of the number of "illegal immigrants from states which support terrorism" who have been intercepted along the southern border. Since the U.S.government considers Cuba to be such a state, it would be useful to know how many of those "illegal immigrants" were Cubans as opposed to, say, Iranians or North Koreans.
I'm working on your question about deported Cubans. I've been able to get some numbers for 2004, but not for 2005. It's possible that the data hasn't been posted yet, but I'm going to dig a little deeper...
According to the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 1,831 cubans were deported in 2004. Click on table 36 to open an Excel spreadsheet and then scroll over to the right to locate stats on the Caribbean.
Anuual data on immigration is available in the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics through the Office of Immigration Statistics. The 2004 Yearbook became available in January of 2006.
If that link doesn't work, try this one: http://tinyurl.com/gtdrn
According to the 2004 Yearbook, 1,831 Cubans were deported during that year. Data for 2005 is not yet available, but if everything appears on schedule, the 2005 Yearbook should be available online in January 2007. Check back periodically at the homepage for the Office of Immigration Statistics. Or try here: http://tinyurl.com/mhe6h, and click on the link for Yearbook of Immigration Statistics for the most recent data, available in PDF format.