Facing migration flood, US resumes services at Cuba embassy

By MEGAN JANETSKY
Associated Press

HAVANA (AP) — Grappling with the biggest flood of Cuban migrants in decades, the United States reopened their long-closed legal pathway on Wednesday by resuming all visa services at its embassy in Havana. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans desperate to leave the island’s flailing economy and reunite with family in the U.S. but unable to get visas in their own country have been forced to make fly to Central America and make tortuous journeys north, or negotiate the Florida Straits in rickey vessels. The number of Cubans detained on the U.S. southern border is second only to Mexicans, acccording to Customs and Border Protection figures. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Embassy for visa appointments Wednesday, or waited outside for loved ones who had appointments.