The Biden administration is reopening the U.S. government's immigration offices in Cuba after they were abruptly shuttered amid the "Havana Syndrome" phenomenon during the Trump administration almost five years ago.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Thursday that the department's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Havana, Cuba, would begin allowing Cuban citizens to apply for select legal pathways to get to the United States.

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The reopening was especially significant to Mayorkas, who was born in Cuba and was brought to the United States as a baby when his parents immigrated during the Castro regime's takeover.

"Cubans like my own family, who nearly 63 years ago fled the communist takeover, deserve the same opportunity to follow legal pathways to build a new life in the United States," Mayorkas said in a statement. "Our Department is committed to building and enforcing a lawful, humane, and secure immigration system, and we will continue to work with countries across the hemisphere and around the world to ensure it."

One such initiative, the Cuban Family Reunification Parole program, was created under the George W. Bush administration as a way for children or adults in Cuba to apply for reunification with an immediate family member already in the U.S. At the time that USCIS shuttered the Havana office, approximately 20,000 applications were under review.

The USCIS office will also help Cuban citizens with refugee applications and appointment-only services, including collecting biometrics such as fingerprints, for U-visa applications.

Mayorkas said the hope behind reinstating these programs was that they would deter people from trying to get into the U.S. illegally. Cubans have been one of the most-apprehended demographics of immigrants at the southern border since 2021.

"This administration is taking steps to reduce unlawful entries, deny resources to ruthless smuggling organizations, and streamline access to lawful, safe, and orderly pathways for those seeking humanitarian relief. Reopening the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in Havana helps us do just that," Mayorkas said in a statement.

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The USCIS facility was abandoned in December 2018 as a result of unexplained health troubles that U.S. employees stationed at the embassy experienced in 2016 and 2017.

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The "Havana Syndrome," as it was called, refers to idiopathic symptoms that U.S. and Canadian government officials and military personnel first began to report in 2016 while assigned to each country's embassy in Cuba. The symptoms ranged in severity but included pain and ringing in the ears and cognitive dysfunction.

The U.S. government has never confirmed what caused the condition.

Original Location: US reopens immigration office in Cuba following 'Havana Syndrome' yearslong closure

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