U.S. and Cuba hold migration talks

U.S. and Cuban officials met Thursday to discuss implementing the U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords of 1994 and 1995.

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Alex Lee led the U.S. delegation in Thursday's meeting with Cuban Foreign Ministry’s Director General for U.S. Affairs Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, head of the Cuban delegation.

The U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords allow for the promotion of "safe, legal, and orderly migration between Cuba and the United States."

The U.S. delegation agenda prioritized discussion about Cuba-U.S. migration issues, cooperation on aviation security, search and rescue, and consular document fraud. The U.S. delegation also emphasized areas of collaborative success with Cuba concerning migration, such as sharing information about undocumented migrant interdiction and understanding changes to Cuban migration policy.

The U.S. delegation also raised the issue of detained American Alan Gross, who was arrested in 2009 while working on a contract for USAID in Cuba and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The American delegation called for his release on Thursday.

[State Department] [UPI]