Obama asks Cuba to revive immigration talks

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a fresh overture to Cuba, President Barack Obama is asking the communist government to resume talks on legal immigration of Cubans to the United States.

Obama’s proposal would reopen discussions that had been closed off by former President George W. Bush since they were last held in mid-2003. His move comes ahead of the United States’ attendance at a high-level meeting early next month of the Organization of American States, where Cuba’s possible re-entry into the regional bloc will be discussed.

The State Department said Friday it had proposed restarting the talks to “reaffirm both sides’ commitment to safe, legal and orderly migration, to review trends in illegal Cuban migration to the United States and to improve operational relations with Cuba on migration issues.”

In April, Obama decided to rescind restrictions on travel to Cuba by Americans with family there and on the amount of money they can send to their relatives on the island.

Obama “wants to ensure that we are doing all we can to support the Cuban people in fulfilling their desire to live in freedom,” Darla Jordan, a department spokeswoman, said Friday. “He will continue to make policy decisions accordingly.”

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will attend the June 2 meeting in Honduras, told lawmakers this past week that the U.S. would not support Cuba’s membership in the organization until and unless President Raul Castro’s government makes democratic reforms and releases political prisoners.

She and Obama have also said that broader engagement with Cuba, including the possible lifting of the U.S. embargo on the island, is dependent on such steps.