Michigan couple face thousands in fines for trip to Cuba

[Mika]

Another example of 'Murican freedom.


Michigan couple face thousands in fines for trip to Cuba
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/base/news-20/110216904027811.xml&storylist=mibusiness

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Michael and Angela McCarthy crossed the border from Ontario into Michigan in April 2001, an officer asked them where they'd been. The couple answered truthfully — Cuba — and mentioned they had brought back a couple of cigars.

Three years and thousands of dollars in legal fees later, the Port Huron, Mich., couple is driving to Washington this week to find out how much the U.S. government will fine them for their illegal trip. Administrative Law Judge Irwin Schroeder could make them pay up to $110,000 after considering their case during a hearing Monday.

The McCarthy case is one of about 20 now before judges of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control, according to the Center for International Policy, which advocates ending travel restrictions to Cuba. Many more cases get settled before they ever reach a judge.

OFAC has opened more than 10,000 enforcement investigations in the last decade for possible violations of the 40-year-old economic embargo against Fidel Castro's regime. The agency has collected more than $8 million in fines since 1994.

The McCarthys, an earnest and soft-spoken pair, are devout Catholics who considered their trip a missionary effort as well as a vacation. They brought medicine, as they had done on similar trips to Mexico and Haiti, and stayed with nuns in Havana. On a road trip across the island, they picked up more than 30 hitchhikers so they could learn about the country.

One word for this couple...... evildoers. <sarcasm off>

[Wickerman]

1. I admire them for challenging a morally bankrupt system

Berggren said the case took years to work its way through the system because OFAC usually settles cases and has few judges available to hear them. The McCarthys were offered a settlement of $1,000 each but refused because they want to challenge the law in a hearing. Berggren expects the pair will pay around $7,500 each if Schroeder decides to fine them, since fines are partly based on how much violators spent in Cuba.

[Lefty48197]

2. How the hell can this couple be charged with a crime?

They legally traveled to Canada. From Canada, they legally traveled to Cuba The only crime I see committed was their attempt to smuggle in those dangerous Cuban cigars. They're even more dangerous than Canadian pharmaceuticals, I've heard.

[ScrewyRabbit]

4. It's illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba

That is, to go to Cuba and spend money there. That's considered trade, and there's an embargo in place.

It's a stupid state of affairs, but that's the US government for you.

[Mika]

5. Americans and resident aliens are banned by the US from Cuba

Everyone except Cuban-Americans and Cuban resident aliens who have direct relatives in Cuba.

The rest of us are verbotten by the US gov.

The Cuban government wants Americans to be able to travel to Cuba and see the island and its people/political system for themselves.

[Occulus]

12. Doesn't that violate equal protection under the law?

Being exempt from the law just because of who you are was one of the myriad reasons why this country was founded. We didn't want kings.

These Cuban immigrants who can still travel to Cuba are getting treatment under the law equal to that which royalty gets.

This one should be fought tooth and nail. This is simply dead wrong.

[Mika]

14. Damn right it does

Cuban-Americans and Cuban expats are the "special class" in the US, re travel rights.

[ScrewyRabbit]

3. They hate us for our freedoms

Uh...that is, our freedom to go to Cuba and get fined.

I had a trip to Cuba all figured out, but when Bush took power I changed my mind.

[amazona]

6. ? for Americans visiting Cuba if anyone knows the answer

A friend of mine who has no savings and no assets of any kind has an opportunity to visit Cuba. Since she would not be able to pay any fine, would she be safe in going? I know the IRS dropped a proceeding against her years ago when they discovered she was destitute. If the only possible action is a fine, then it seems safe for her to travel; if they might jail destitute people (students) then it's another matter.

Does anyone know if the feds just "brush off" students without assets who visit Cuba? She is older and doesn't have living parents who could pay any fine either.

I would love to join her but won't as I do have my tiny assets which I intend to keep since I am jobless and can't replace them.

On edit -- to clarify, the reason she can go there without funds is that she would be joining a Christian "mission" of some kind -- but it is not a fundy mission.

[ScrewyRabbit]

11. She could be imprisoned even if she has no money

It's risky.

[Mika]

13. Dan Snow served jail time for his travel to Cuba

From The Dallas Morning News,
http://www.nlg.org/cuba/banhasntslowed.htm

HAVANA - Austin resident Dan Snow can't vote. Can't own a gun. Can't even go fishing where he wants to.

His crime?

He hopped on a plane and went to Cuba, the forbidden island, land of Fidel Castro and rumbling '59 Chevys.

"I'm a travel felon," said Mr. Snow, 63

-

In 1988, the U.S. government prosecuted Mr. Snow for his travels to Cuba. He served a 90-day jail term and five years' probation. He also lost his voting rights for life and was fined $5,300.

[amazona]

23. thanks for that

Only one person jailed for traveling to Cuba and that in 1988...I think I like my friend's odds, especially since it will be a one-time thing with a missionary group. Quite a bit different from going 40 times and leading fishing tours there!

[Benhurst]

7. But at least they know they are free! And they can worship

any god or gods they please. Plus they can say anything they want, as long as they are willing to suffer the consequences. Gee! Ain't freedom in BushAmerica grand!

[Crunchy Frog]

8. I hate to say it, but

it was really stupid of them to tell the truth when they were asked. What did they think was going to happen?

I think it's insane that our government is going after people for vacationing in Cuba, but we have to accept the fact that we're living under an insane government, and do the best we can to protect ourselves. JMHO.

[murray hill farm]

10. As i recall this story...

The couple were followed from the departure plane..and were caught that way. About a year ago, it was the same in Cancun..but the usa agents had really no power in mexico..so you could just walk away from them..saying no habla english or whatever...ha! But they would ask for your passports..when departing your plane from cuba, but you could just walk away from them. You can still fly to cuba from Cancun..and in cuba, they do not stamp your passport, but issue you a visa for your stay.which you turn in when you leave..so, there is no record that you went to cuba.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Goddawful that this could happen to these people.

Two good, gentle quotes from the couple:

"The United States is becoming more of a gated community, and we're not going to make it if we close ourselves in," he said.

"In the Gospel we're called to make peace," Michael McCarthy said.

What a shame, isn't it? So typical.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe you remember hearing this one from last year. It's a "doozie," too:

CCR has filed suit on behalf of Kip and Patrick Taylor against the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) after the agency fined the elderly couple for having their boat reparied in Cuba after a storm left them stranded. CCR believesOFAC applies Cuba embargo regulations arbitrarily and violated the Taylor's 5th Amendment Rights.

April 22, 2003: Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) will file suit in the United States District Court in Washington on behalf of an elderly couple from Michigan who lawyers say were unfairly penalized under Cuba embargo regulations. Lawyers also say the two were not informed of their Fifth Amendment rights, protecting them from self incrimination.

Under the existing economic embargo against Cuba, Americans are allowed to travel to Cuba but are prohibited from spending any money. Travelers are presumed to have spent money in Cuba unless they can prove otherwise and can face large monetary travel fines.

The couple, Kip, 73 and Patrick, 58 Taylor of Traverse City, MI, sailed to Cuba on a boating trip in April 1996. Knowing that U.S. law prohibited spending money in Cuba, they stocked their sailboat with enough provisions to last for the duration of their three-month trip. While sailing back to Florida from Cuba, their boat was caught in a storm and struck by lightning that destroyed the mast.

The Cuban Coast Guard rescued them in international waters, and the boat was towed back to port. However, when they applied to the Treasury Department for permission to repair it, they were told to abandon the boat-and their two dogs-in Cuba and fly back to the U.S. After weeks of attempting to negotiate, unwilling to leave their dogs and dismayed by a decision that would leave in Cuba assets worth more than the costs of repairs, the Taylors had the boat fixed. Many of the repairs were done by the Taylors themselves with the help of visiting sailors who donated parts.
(snip/...)

http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=QvT9Qjndib&Content=233

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is sheer harrassment meant to instill in people that the Republican dipstick pResident controls everything in this country, or damned well hopes to. Screw the common good. Power is what Republicans are after. If you don't indulge them, they'll try to crush you. Stupid gits.

[Mika]

16. Sheer harrassment is right on the mark, Judi Lynn

Also from the lead Miami-Herald article,

On a road trip across the island, they picked up more than 30 hitchhikers so they could learn about the country.

Most Americans don't realize that tourists can rent a modern car and travel the island from tip to toe, without reservation.

I've done so, as well a bicycled around a lot of the island (legally).

Best and most rewarding trips I've ever had.

[Judi Lynn]

19. Can you imagine HOW MANY TIMES someone posting on message boards

since Elián Gonzalez was captured by his drunken great-uncle in Miami, rightwingnut American posters have come on board and insisted, sometimes heatedly, that in Cuba NO ONE is allowed to go ANYWHERE off the beaten tourist paths?

I've heard them claim it SO MANY TIMES. God. It always helped when people who had actually BEEN to Cuba joined the conversation in time to tell them they were lying, or idiots.

Bicycled, too, then? Now I'm even more envious. I've heard they can rent RV'S, too.

Haven't you ever read or heard American nimrods claiming that Cubans are afraid to talk to Americans, in a serious way, or else they could get pitched into the slammer? They claim that there is ALWAYS some Cuban police or informer lurking around who will make sure Cubans are punished if they tell anyone they don't like their government.

That's a convenient cover-up, since there probably aren't a lot of people who come back claiming their Cuban friends exploded with rage over their own government!

They also claim that Cubans aren't allowed to read anything from outside their own country. If they go to Cuba, they learn that Cubans read all the U.S. papers, magazines, etc.

So it's on to the next bogus claim! They claim that no one in Cuba can hear any tv or radio from outside Cuba. Then someone has to tell them that you can pick up radio and tv stations from the States in Cuba easily. On and on and on, right?

[murray hill farm]

20. I have been to cuba...a wonderful place!!

Everything u hear in the usa is a pile of lies. I watched CNN from Cuba...hahahahahaha!! The people love Castro...everyone talks to you..u can go anywhere..talk to anyone...and the island itself is beautiful..and clean...so, clean..no junk or garbage alongside the roads. In Cuba, if people want to get from one place to another..just stand on side of road..if someone goes by, they stop..and pick them up...it may even be the law..ha! Cubans are proud of their country...as they should be. It is in the USA that u are lied to...given only the information that supports the status quo..fed only the lies that "they" have decided u should hear. Ha! And everything..everything u are fed about Cuba is a lie.

[alexisfree]

15. Read what happen when my husband tried to get a passport.

On earth.. Earlier we were going to travel PAY ATTENTION MEN " My husband and my kids signed up for a US Passport...My kids got it !!but not my husband, they sent him a letter saying his Birth Certificate was not valid??? This wa a Birth Certificate issued by the state of texas naturalization..He calls up the idiots at the passport they said its not valid we need a valid one???? He didnt understand but follow the orders of the idiots and talked to the state of texas. The state of texas sent him 4 birth certificates and 1 letter from the passport office saying TEXAS Birth Certificates were valid for US PASSPORTS. Believe it or not he got a letter 30 days letter they still were not able to verify his identity???? WTF they told him he had to submit Name, address, phone numbers of relatives or people that have known him since he was a kid(talk about big brother)....Also he had to submit grade school reports since grammer school???wtf??? he also had to submit his high school year book, college yearbook.. BEAR IN MIND WHEN YOU SUBMIT THIS CRAP THEY DONT RETURN IT>>>Trust me...He still hasnt got back the original stuff he submitted. He told them to F off. He called Dianne Feinsteins Office they claimed they would look into it.,. OF COURSE THEY DIDNT DO ANYTHING. I cant believe what they are making him do...and everytime its something diffrent they want from him...I guess his 2 arrest in the past for being obnoxious in college and his $30,000 college loan that he owes means nothing?????My husband only conclusion is that they didnt want males to get passports this past july maybe they need able body citizens for the draft or something...

He has been a resident of California since he was in the 5th grade...He is registered to vote and Yes we can travel without a passport he uses his birth certificate, id, and ss card.

[murray hill farm]

17. That is disgusting!

A friend who had lived near me in Mexico for seven years..and wanted to return to the USA after she had a child here..ran into the same problem..her passport had expired..so when she tried to get a new one, they made her go through the same shit..grades, etc.

[Ernesto]

18. In the mean time,

Eddy Laker's Air lines are cashing in on Britain's hottest new Cara bean tourist destination. How's that for screwing the American air line industry?

[IndianaGreen]

21. American freedom is a lie!

The fact that police agencies are reading chat rooms and websites to spot "terrorist" activities are a big clue that their only intention is to prevent people from wising up to the fact that the corporations own this country.

America was build on lies!

"All men are created equal" excluded all those not present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Women and people of color, as well as poor whites, were excluded!

[Zhade]

22. Gee, why no such fine for visiting China?

Ridiculous.