BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Cuba plans to renew accepting deportation flights from the United States this month, a Cuban official mentioned, echoing U.S. issues concerning the highest ranges of Cuban migration in six a long time.

Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, Cuba‘s deputy international minister, mentioned flights are anticipated earlier than the U.S. ends coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions on asylum on May 11, which is broadly projected to extend the variety of folks looking for entry to the U.S. on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The diplomat spoke in an interview with The Associated Press on the Cuban ambassador’s residence outdoors Washington after what he known as “a productive meeting” to debate migration.

“We have a lot of common understanding, both parties, the United States and Cuba, about the nature of the problem,” he mentioned.

Fernandez de Cossio mentioned there was no settlement on the frequency of flights, which can rely upon U.S. and Cuban capability. But he mentioned there was no purpose they will’t return to pre-pandemic ranges of about twice a month. The final flight was in December 2020.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn't instantly reply to a request for remark Friday.

Cubans have been stopped practically 43,000 occasions on the U.S. border with Mexico in December, turning into one of many largest nationalities coming into the United States. Numbers plummeted in January after President Joe Biden’s administration introduced that Cubans may fly to the U.S. in the event that they utilized on-line and had a monetary sponsor and that they'd be expelled again to Mexico in the event that they crossed the border illegally.

“We’re going to see if we can get one in the coming weeks and then to make that regular so that people can be easily removed, not to Mexico but directly to Cuba,” Fernandez de Cossio mentioned late Thursday.

He mentioned that numbers of Cubans fleeing on boats, significantly high-powered vessels related to smugglers, have been rising after a fall earlier this 12 months and that extra Cubans have been leaving the nation to fly to Nicaragua as vacationers, usually step one for Cubans to journey by land to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Fernandez de Cassio mentioned the adjustments introduced in January underneath which individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela can apply for humanitarian parole to come back to the U.S. have been profitable in lowering the numbers of Cubans attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. But he cautioned that it wasn’t a long-term repair.

“It would be irresponsible for us or naive to think that this will be sustainable in the long term because there will always be a limit on the amount of visas,” he mentioned.

It is unclear what number of flights the U.S. might want to mount a severe deterrent to Cuban migration.

The two nations have deliberate 5 elimination flights since November, however every was known as off for numerous operational points, mentioned Fernandez de Cossio, emphasizing that Cuba has supported the flights in principle.

U.S. Border Patrol brokers stopped extra migrants final 12 months than at some other time on file, largely pushed by arrivals of individuals from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, nations with strained diplomatic relations. It has been extraordinarily tough for the U.S. to sponsor deportation flights to these nations, forcing the Biden administration to show to Mexico for assist internet hosting the migrants.

The Biden administration has gone into overdrive making ready for the tip of Title 42, the general public well being authority underneath which migrants have been expelled from the U.S. greater than 2.7 million occasions with out a possibility to hunt asylum on the grounds of stopping the unfold of COVID-19.

This week, the U.S., Panama and Colombia introduced a plan to cease migration by the infamous Darien Gap in Panama, the place individuals are usually killed. It additionally started testing expedited preliminary screening for asylum at an undisclosed border crossing, hoping to rapidly return those that don’t go.

Fernandez de Cossio mentioned he pressed throughout talks in Washington to alleviate financial sanctions in opposition to Cuba and adjustments to the Cuban Adjustment Act, which makes Cubans eligible for authorized residency after one 12 months within the United States.

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