Cuban Migration To Miami - Why Miami?

Why Miami?

After Fidel Castro assumed power in Cuba in 1959, many Cubans emigrated in protest of the communist regime. Many of these immigrants chose Miami as their new home. As a result, Miami gained a certain magnetism to future Cuban immigrants wishing to settle in a land other than Cuba. "The so-called Golden Exiles of the early 1960s" comprised the first wave of Cuban immigrants to Miami. These refugees predominantly set out to secure and serve their ethnic group within Miami. Essentially, "this eased the absorption and accommodation of subsequent, less highly selected waves of Cuban refugees, including the large influx of immigrants during the 1980 Mariel Boatlift". The 1980 Mariel Boatlift illegally transported approximately 125,000 Cubans into Florida, the majority of which settled within Miami-Dade County. Cuban immigrants further perpetuated Cuban migration through the emergence of a materialistic culture in Miami. "The bulk of Miami's many immigrants came here in order to advance themselves economically. This is also true for the Cuban community, which was driven to prove Castro wrong by building their own economic success story". This form of materialism acted to further attract Cuban immigrants to Miami. “Although direct emigration from Cuba ceased in 1973, movement of Cubans to Miami from elsewhere in the United States, a growing emigration from other Latin American nations, and higher than city average birth rates among the Latin Americans already resident in the county, have meant that the population continues to increase”.