Poll finds Cubans in Miami aghast at welfare abuses [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Poll finds Cubans in Miami aghast at welfare abuses

By Megan O'Matz, John Maines and Sally Kestin
December 18, 2015, 3:50 PM

Most Cubans coming to the United States today are seeking economic opportunity, not political refuge, and don’t deserve U.S. taxpayer assistance, according to a majority of Cuban-Americans polled by the Sun Sentinel and Florida Atlantic University.

Cuban-Americans especially disapprove of Cubans who collect aid as presumed refugees, then travel back and forth between the U.S. and Cuba. About 62 percent said the U.S. should cut off welfare for those who regularly return to the Communist island.

The poll revealed a divide between recent arrivals and Cubans who have lived in the U.S. for more than two decades. Those with deeper roots here firmly objected to giving welfare to Cubans not fleeing persecution, while those here five years or less favored such aid.

The survey of 423 randomly-selected Miami-Dade County residents of Cuban descent was conducted by phone, in English or Spanish, over four days in early December by FAU’s Business and Economics Polling Initiative. Two-thirds of those polled were born in Cuba and four out of five had lived in the U.S. more than two decades. The majority said they are U.S. citizens and registered Republicans. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.

More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-cuba-benefits-poll-htmlstory.html