WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott joined Senator Marco Rubio and Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar and Carlos A. Giménez in sending a letter to the Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers and condemning recent reports that the administration allowed a high-level, longtime Cuban Communist Party operative to gain U.S. entry.

Full text of the letter here and below.

Dear Secretary Blinken and Secretary Mayorkas,   

We write to express our profound disgust regarding reports that a high-level, longtime Cuban Communist Party operative managed to gain the special privilege of U.S. entry. Further, and within all applicable rules and regulations, we request that you assess whether the law was followed in this case and if not, what specific processes are in place to ensure that a similar mistake does not recur.

According to press reports including a video posted by journalist Mario J. Penton, high level Cuban Communist Party operative Manuel Menendez Castellanos entered the United States through Miami International Airport last week. Press reports indicate that Manuel Menendez Castellanos was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Central Workers’ Union in 1972, was First Secretary of the Communist Party in Cienfuegos (1993 and 2003), and a deputy in the National Assembly for years, as well as a member of Fidel Castro’s notorious “coordination and support team.”

INA 212(a)(3)(D)(i) provides that, “Any immigrant who is or has been a member of or affiliated with the Communist or any other totalitarian party (or subdivision or affiliate thereof), domestic or foreign, is inadmissible.” The USCIS website further elaborates on this provision in U.S. law by stating, “In general, any immigrant who is or has been a member of or affiliated with the Communist or any other totalitarian party (or subdivision or affiliate thereof), domestic or foreign, is inadmissible” (Chapter 3 - Immigrant Membership in Totalitarian Party | USCIS). Given this prohibition in U.S. law, it would seem likely to us that a high-level, longtime Cuban Communist Party member and agent of that brutal dictatorship would be inadmissible for U.S. entry.

We are outraged that an individual with a role in oppressing the Cuban people for decades was permitted the extraordinary privilege of U.S. entry so that he could spend his retirement in freedom and comfort. For these reasons, we request that you assess whether the law was followed in this case and if not, what actions will be taken to ensure that high-level Cuban Communist Party operatives are found to be inadmissible according to law.

Thank you for your attention to this matter of utmost importance and we look forward to your prompt response.

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