"Wet foot, dry foot" comes to an abrupt end

"Wet foot, dry foot" began in 1995 under President Bill Clinton after an exodus of tens of thousands of Cubans who were picked up at sea by the coastguard as they tried to reach Florida. Quite simply if a Cuban illegal immigrating is caught at sea he is deported to Cuba. If he reaches dry land, he can stay regardless of his status.

The move to end the policy comes just eight days before the Democratic president turns the White House over to Republican Donald Trump, who has said the US should get more concessions from Havana in exchange for improved relations .

The argument for the sudden change in policy is that any period of public debate would probably have started a stampede of dangerous crossing attempts to beat a deadline.

Half of the Cuban immigrants in Florida voted for Trump

Trump also had his own sudden change in regime policy by announcing that all ambassadors appointed by Obama had to supply resignations on 20 January. Although President Obama did the same thing, he only dismissed the most blatantly political appointments on 20 January.

I wonder who Trump will appoint. The ambassador
jobs usually go to cronies who gave the president
elect a lot of money. Trump owes no such favors,
he can appoint anybody he wants.

Quote: Evenbob

I wonder who Trump will appoint. The ambassador
jobs usually go to cronies who gave the president
elect a lot of money. Trump owes no such favors,
he can appoint anybody he wants.

John Phillips , United States Ambassador to Italy, is one of 125 political appointees made by Barack Obama. Phillips invested in a group of houses (a “borgo,” or village) in Tuscany in 2001 that were more than 800 years old and were in a ruined state. He made 50 trips to Italy in the decade before his appointment. So he had a strong connection to the country, as well as whatever contributions he may have made.






The ambassadorship to Italy and the residence in Villa Taverna is considered one of the plum appointments of the service.