They can get an expedited permanent residence (green card) after being here for one year I believe. Things were always dodgy. The wet foot, dry foot rules may have been ended though. That was a non official term for a policy created by Clinton. If your feet are on dry land, you can stay, if your feet are in a boat/raft/etc you were sent back to Cuba. There was a year where tens of thousands of Cubans that were trying to float across to florida. Rigging old cars up to makshift rafts in an effort to flee Cuba and make it to the U.S. That is where the slur “raft drifter” came about for Cubans I believe. Obama changed something to try to discourage that practice, traveling 100+ miles (160+ KM) in open water with makeshift transports Im sure was the end for to many lives. It’s horrible what people do to each other. The shit they had to go through to feel that was the necessary risk to better their families lives. Then the voyage, and then being treated like shit anyways if they got here.