On April 21, 2022, migratory talks between Cuba and the United States were held in Washington D.C., chaired respectively by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío Domínguez, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Emily Mendrala.
Compliance with the bilateral Migration Agreements and the mutual commitment to guarantee regular, safe and orderly migration was reviewed.
Cuba reiterated its concern about the measures of the US government that stimulate migration, prevent legal and orderly migration, and generate socioeconomic conditions that encourage emigration. He stressed that these measures, including those associated with the extreme strengthening of the economic blockade, cause loss of life and the commission of crimes of migrant smuggling, immigration fraud and human trafficking, a situation that affects both countries and the region.
The Cuban delegation insisted on the obligation of the United States government to guarantee the issuance in Havana of no less than 20,000 annual visas for Cubans to emigrate to the United States, a commitment that has been breached since 2017. It emphasized that there is no justification some to keep that service interrupted in Cuba and force the applicant to emigrate to travel to Guyana so that his application can be processed.
He also reiterated that the United States must stop hindering and violating the rights of Cubans to travel to third countries in the area and demanded compliance with the bilateral migratory agreements in their entirety and not selectively.
(Cuba minrex