Several House Republicans on Monday called on the Harris-Biden administration to explain why a former Cuban Communist Party official was issued an immigrant visa, allowing him to move to the United States legally.
Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA) denounced the “vetting lapses” that allowed Manuel Menéndez Castellanos to enter Miami using the U.S.-run visa parole program for Cubans. By letter It was sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“Menendez Castellanos' entry into the United States raises serious questions about the Biden-Harris Administration's application of federal immigration law and the vetting procedures used to process immigrant visa applications,” the lawmakers wrote.
“According to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), an alien is inadmissible as an immigrant if he 'is or has been a member or associate of a Communist party or any other totalitarian political party, whether foreign or domestic.'”
El Nuevo Herald reported earlier this month that Menendez was previously a Communist Party official in the Cuban city of Cienfuegos.
The media added that he has represented Cuba at international forums and received awards from the Cuban government.
The lawmakers said that as head of the state-level Communist Party, Menendez was part of the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's “coordination and support team” and played a role in “the repression of the Cuban people for decades.”
Menendez was allowed into the United States on August 15 under the Cuban Reintegration Parole Program because he is the parent of a U.S. citizen.
The House Judiciary Committee investigated Menendez's immigrant visa application and found that when questioned by immigration authorities, Menendez denied any ties to the Cuban Communist Party.
But in his subsequent immigration application documents, the board found that Menendez had admitted to and downplayed his membership in the Cuban Communist Party.
In their letters to Mayorkas and Blinken, the lawmakers said they were surprised that Menendez was not subject to denial under the INA, given his confessions and reports that he had previously worked for the Castro regime.
“While immigration law contains limited exceptions to the grounds for inadmissibility, the Biden-Harris Administration appears not to have applied one of them in approving Mr. Menendez Castellanos' immigrant visa,” the lawmakers wrote. “In fact, Biden-Harris Administration immigration officials appear to have ignored the fact that Mr. Menendez Castellanos himself admitted to belonging to the Cuban Communist Party.”
“Even more concerning is that security investigations conducted by the Biden-Harris Administration found no evidence that Menéndez Castellanos had ties to Fidel Castro's brutal regime, despite overwhelming public evidence of his long-standing and extensive activities within that regime,” they added. “A simple five-minute internet search by the Biden-Harris Administration would have revealed Menéndez Castellanos' disturbing ties to the Castro regime.”
The lawmakers said Menendez's being allowed into the US was “inexcusable” and that his entry highlighted the Harris-Biden administration's “sloppy approach to national security” and “desire to appease communist regimes and undermine American values and standing on the world stage.”
The committee has demanded an explanation from Mayorkas and Blinken for Menendez's entire immigration file, the “vetting deficiencies” that occurred and why Menendez was not found inadmissible under immigration law.
The Washington Post has reached out to the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
