who started the wet foot dry foot policy
The wet feet, dry feet policy or wet foot, dry foot policy is the name given to a former interpretation of the 1995 revision of the application of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that essentially says that anyone who fled Cuba and entered the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later. Prior to 1995, the US government allowed all Cubans who reached US territorial waters to remain in the US. 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. For several decades thereafter, in what became known as the "Wet foot, Dry foot" policy, a Cuban caught on the waters between the two nations (with "wet feet") would summarily be sent home or to a third country. One who makes it to shore ("dry feet") gets a chance to remain in the United States, and later would qualify for expedited "legal permanent resident" status in accordance with the 1966 Act and eventually U.S. citizenship. In January 2017, the Obama administration announced the immediate end of the policy shortly before President Barack Obama's term expired.