 The drop between the 2002 and 2012 censuses was the first drop in Cuba's population since Cuba's war of independence.This drop was due to low fertility and emigration, as during this time (fiscal years 2003-2012), 332,028 Cubans received legal permanent residence in the United States.In the last few years before the end of the wet feet, dry feet policy on January 12, 2017, the number of Cubans moving to the United States significantly outnumbered the natural increase during those years.