Homeland Security is harassing legitimate tourists, critics say

By TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News

HAVANA – U.S. authorities say they have caught 44 people traveling to Cuba illegally over the last two months. They call it a striking success, but critics say the
Department of Homeland Security would be better off going after terrorists than tourists.

"Homeland Security is in charge of the anti-terrorism initiative, but in the case of Cuba I feel it is really an anti-tourism effort," said an executive with a major U.S.
charter service that handles flight arrangements for tens of thousands of legal Cuba trips per year.

"It's just incredible to me. Shocking," said the man, who asked that his name be withheld for fear of reprisals by American authorities.

Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security at the Department of Homeland Security, said Wednesday that inspectors had carried out
more than 45,000 baggage examinations of nearly 54,000 passengers during the first two months of stepped-up enforcement of the longtime ban on trade with the
socialist government.

Direct flights

Inspectors targeted passengers traveling to Cuba on direct flights from John F. Kennedy International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Miami
International Airport.

They examined 45,461 of 54,160 passengers traveling on 971 flights, detecting 592 violations. Nearly half were alcohol and tobacco violations ­ mostly passengers
trying to enter the U.S. with Cuban rum and cigars. Other violations were for traveling to Cuba – or attempting to travel – without a required U.S. Treasury license.

"More than 99 percent of the people we searched were in compliance with the restrictions of the embargo," Mr. Hutchinson, former head of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, told a crowd in Miami. "I attribute this to the fact that this crackdown has been well-publicized. People know we are enforcing."

Travel to Cuba has been tightly restricted for many years. Generally, only diplomats, scholars, journalists, business executives, Cuban-Americans and some others
are allowed to go.

Former President Bill Clinton pushed through new rules permitting Americans to travel to the island for educational and cultural purposes, and tens of thousands of
people took advantage of that provision last year. But the Bush administration has since outlawed most educational and cultural travel, and permission for those
trips will expire Jan. 1.

Given the stepped-up enforcement, many travelers fear U.S. prosecution even when traveling to the island legally, said the leader of a group that traveled to Cuba
recently for an educational and cultural trip.

He questioned what U.S. taxpayers now spend to apprehend the "dastardly culprits" who dare travel to Cuba. And he said he hopes authorities spend at least as
much time and money tracking down real terrorists.

Studied art, history

Members of his group, ranging in age from their early 30s to late 50s, included architects, an attorney, several investors, an advertising executive, an art museum
curator and a computer software developer. The travelers, including a number of Texas residents, studied art, architecture, history and other topics in Cuba; the
tour operator said they also spent considerable time talking one-on-one with ordinary Cubans from all walks of life.

Upon returning to the United States, he said, group members were asked to produce a copy of their travel license and to declare how much cash they were
carrying. Many had "the ominous feeling that they were being harassed by their own country while abiding by their own country's regulations," said the tour
operator, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

One couple declared they were carrying less than $100 in souvenirs and about $400 in art – which would be allowed under the law – yet "they were kept 45
minutes while their luggage was totally unpacked and their purchases were photographed by Customs," he said. He added that some inspectors were friendly and
some were not.

President Bush ordered the increased scrutiny in October. U.S. authorities say that in addition to checking Cuba flights, they are also stopping and boarding all
American-registered private vessels suspected to be heading to Cuban waters.

Penalties, fines

Those found guilty of criminal violations of the trade embargo face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Civil penalties of up to $55,000 per violation are
allowed under the law.

U.S. authorities typically issue fines of $5,000 to $7,000 for travelers who go to Cuba illegally, and many cases are settled for half the amount.

The embargo's goal is to isolate Cuba economically and bring about regime change, its supporters say. Critics say the United States should normalize relations with
the island government, pointing out that a majority of American lawmakers now support a softening of economic sanctions and an end to the ban on travel to the
country.