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Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances
Recent Developments
On July 16, 2014, the House passed (228-195) the FY2015 Financial Services and General
Government Appropriations Act, H.R. 5016 (H.Rept. 113-508), with two provisions related to
U.S. restrictions on travel to Cuba. The first, in Section 126, would prevent any funds in the Act
from being used for people-to-people travel. The second, in Section 127, would require a joint
report from the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Homeland Security within 90 days
of the bill's enactment with specific information for each fiscal year since FY2007 on family
travel to Cuba. (See "Legislative Initiatives in the 113th Congress" below.)
On June 17, 2014, Florida International University (FIU) issued its 2014 poll on the Cuban
American community in Miami-Dade county regarding U.S. policy toward Cuba. The poll
showed that 69% of Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade county supported the lifting of travel
restrictions for all Americans to travel to Cuba. (The 2014 FIU poll is available at:
https: //cri.fiu.edu/news/2014/cuban-americans-favor-more-nuanced-policy/2014-fiu-cuba-
poll.pdf)
Overview of the U.S. Restrictions
Since the United States imposed a comprehensive trade embargo against Cuba in the early 1960s,
there have been numerous policy changes to restrictions on travel to Cuba. The embargo
regulations do not ban travel itself, but place restrictions on any financial transactions related to
travel to Cuba, which effectively result in a travel ban. Accordingly, from 1963 until 1977, travel
to Cuba was effectively banned under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) issued by
the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to implement the embargo.
In 1977, the Carter Administration made changes to the regulations that essentially lifted the
travel ban. In 1982, the Reagan Administration made other changes to the CACR that once again
restricted travel to Cuba, but allowed for travel-related transactions by certain categories of
travelers. Under the Clinton Administration, there were several changes to the Treasury
Department regulations, with some at first tightening the restrictions, and others later loosening
the restrictions.
Under the George W. Bush Administration, the travel regulations were tightened significantly,
with additional restrictions on family visits, educational travel, and travel for those involved in
amateur and semi-professional international sports federation competitions. In addition, the
categories of fully-hosted travel and people-to-people educational exchanges unrelated to
academic coursework were eliminated as permissible travel to Cuba. The Bush Administration
also cracked down on those traveling to Cuba illegally, further restricted religious travel by
changing licensing guidelines for such travel, and suspended the licenses of several travel service
providers in Florida for license violations.
Under the Obama Administration, Congress took action in March 2009 (PL. 111-8) to ease
restrictions on travel by Cuban Americans to visit their family in Cuba and on travel related to the
marketing and sale of agricultural and medical goods to Cuba. In April 2009, President Obama
went even further by announcing that all restrictions on family travel and on remittances to family
members in Cuba would be lifted, and on September 3, 2009, the Treasury Department issued
regulations implementing these policy changes. In January 2011, President Obama took furtherCongressional Research Service
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Sullivan, Mark P. Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances, report, August 19, 2014; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820419/m1/5/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.