The U.S., Cuba, and the people caught between

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 • 14.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

The U.S. has been deporting people from Cuba in record numbers. That has come as a shock to many Cuban American communities, who had long enjoyed special protections that don't apply to most other immigrant groups. This week on the show we're talking about where this change fits into the trajectory of Cuban immigration to the U.S. We'll hear from Ada Ferrer, a historian at Princeton who shares how her family's divergent paths to the U.S. reverberated through her life. Then, we talk to historian Michael Bustamante of the University of Miami about how U.S.-Cuba immigration policy has evolved since the Cuban Revolution.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from MS Now. On their new podcast, MS Now presents Clockit. Washington Power Players,
0:07.1	Simone Sanders Towns, and Eugene Daniels discuss how the latest political news and the catchiest cultural
0:13.1	moments converge. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. What's good, listener? So we prepared a
0:19.7	different episode for today, but before we get into that
0:22.0	episode, we just wanted to take a moment to make sure we marked the death and life of the Reverend
0:27.6	Jesse Jackson, who died at the age of 84. Yeah, Reverend Jackson was a towering figure. He was so
0:33.9	influential to the country, to the work we do here at Code Switch, and we both have deep
0:38.9	memories of how Reverend Jackson's presence popped up throughout the course of our entire
0:43.2	lives, from the campaign trail to Sesame Street.
0:47.3	I am.
0:47.9	Somebody.
0:50.1	Somebody.
0:50.7	I may be poor.
0:52.0	I may be poor.
0:53.4	But I am.
0:54.3	I am. Somebody. Somebody. So we be poor. I may be poor. What I am? I am.
0:55.3	Somebody.
0:56.1	Somebody.
0:57.3	So we will talk more about his life and his legacy on the show later this month.
1:01.3	But for now, we just wanted to say a quick rest in power.
1:04.8	And may his memory be a blessing.
1:09.4	What's good, y'all?
	...

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