MARIELITOS 10 YEARS LATER - THE SCARFACE LEGACY

Objective. This article presents a brief history of the Cuban mass mig ration in spring 1980. It describes the moral epidemic directed agains t the Cubans and the specific programs and procedures that facilitated their institutionalization in the United States. It documents the imp act of these programs and policies on the risk of institutionalization of the immigrants. Methods. The research uses logistic regression to analyze information on 50,958 people of Cuban origin in the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the 1990 U.S. Census. Results. Marielitos have higher rates of institutionalization than other Cubans. This effe ct persists even after statistically controlling for other important d eterminants of institutionalization. Moreover, identification with the Mariel boatlift has important effects on the other predictors of inst itutionalization included in the analysis. The nationwide moral epidem ic created important liabilities for all Mariel immigrants irrespectiv e of social and demographic statuses that otherwise would have protect ed them against detection and institutionalization.