The U.S. government will no longer automatically extend residency to Cuban migrants arriving in the country without visas, President Barack Obama announced in a surprise decision Thursday. The “wet foot, dry foot” policy was “designed for a different era,” the president said in a statement. “By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries,” he said. Some 56,400 Cuban migrants entered the United States without visas last year, according to Customs and Border Protection ― nearly twice the number in 2014. The president-elect’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Obama’s decision, but Trump has previously criticized the “wet foot, dry foot” policy.

Source: Huffington Post January 12, 2017 21:55 UTC