Fake Cubans

This semester I am teaching course on the Politics of Latino Immigration to the United States. In class today we talked about the weird case of Cuba. Someone asked about people pretending to be Cuban in order to get the benefits--get right in line for a green card--that go with it. Lo and behold, here is a recent story on the big business of fake Cuban birth certificates. The certificate plus transportation to the Florida Keys costs about $10,000 per person.

Investigators had found that fraudulent birth certificates were being sold to dozens of foreign nationals by a Kissimmee man who pretended to be a high-ranking immigration official.
A group, led by ringleader Fidel Morejón, 41, sold the fake Cuban birth certificates to about 50 undocumented immigrants, bringing in more than $500,000. Morejón used elaborate tactics to ensure that his clients persuaded immigration officials that they were really Cubans, even coaching them on what to say.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/25/v-print/3585970/feds-taking-closer-look-cuban.html#storylink=cpy

Of course, the person also needs to make sure they know a lot about Cuba and can convince people of the accent.

Just supply and demand.