Mariel boatlift

Mariel boatlift, mass emigration of people from Cuba to the United States by boat in April–October 1980.

After communist leader Fidel Castro rose to political power in Cuba in 1959, he periodically closed the island’s borders and prevented Cuban citizens from leaving. In April 1980, however, thousands of Cubans went to the Peruvian embassy seeking asylum from the oppressive regime. Castro, trying to stop the unrest, opened the port of Mariel, west of Havana, to any residents who wanted to leave. From April until October some 125,000 Cuban immigrants (nicknamed “Marielitos”) crossed the Straits of Florida to the United States, severely straining the capacity of U.S. immigration and resettlement facilities.

Although Castro sent some who were criminals or mentally ill, most of the Marielitos were seeking relief from political repression and a stagnating economy. Many of them settled in the Miami area and became legal U.S. residents under the Cuban Adjustment Act.