U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for April 21

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Apr 21, 2014, 12:01 ET

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

FREEDOM CROSSING

Profile America — Monday, April 21st. Immigration and assimilation are matters of much current debate, but in 1980, those issues came floating in on the tide. It was on this date that what's known as the Mariel boatlift began. When Cuban ruler Fidel Castro announced that any citizens wishing to leave the police state could, the voluntary exiles made their way to the port town of Mariel, just west of Havana. During the exodus, some 125,000 Cubans crossed the Florida straits in about 5,000 small boats, mostly coming ashore in Key West. The boatlift lasted until late September, when Castro closed the port to any more emigrants. Of the 53 million Hispanics in the U.S., over 3½ percent — or nearly 2 million — are of Cuban heritage. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources:
Kane's Famous First Facts, 5881
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21421.html
http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/USCG_Mariel_History_1980.asp http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg531/amio/mariel.asp http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb13-ff19.html
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_12_1YR_S0201&prodType=table

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau