President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he was ending a longstanding immigration policy that allowed any Cuban who made it to U.S. soil to stay and become a legal resident. In a statement, Obama said the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy was "designed for a different era" of U.S.-Cuba relations. "By taking this step," Obama said, "we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries." The "wet foot, dry foot" policy was put in place in 1995 by then-President Bill Clinton as a revision of a more liberal immigration policy. People already in the pipeline under both "wet foot, dry foot" and the medical parole program will be able to continue the process toward getting legal status.

Source: Fox News January 12, 2017 21:40 UTC