The Freedom Flights (1965 to 1973)

Twice-daily flights that carried hundreds of thousands of Cubans to Miami.

An agreed exodus

In 1965 the United States and Cuba agreed to an organized airlift. Flights between Varadero and Miami ran for most of the next eight years and carried roughly a quarter of a million Cubans to the United States.

The Cuban Adjustment Act

In 1966 Congress passed the Cuban Adjustment Act, which let Cubans in the United States become permanent residents after a waiting period. See also Cuba.