Senior U.S. and Cuban officials will meet next week in a new round of talks on immigration, the State Department announced Thursday. Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said U.S. and Cuban diplomats will meet in Havana on January 12 to monitor adherence to a 17-year-old deal under which the United States issues 20,000 visas to Cubans each year. Diplomats will discuss "policies and procedures that promote safe, legal, and orderly migration," he said. The Havana talks will mark the fourth round of immigration talks, following the third round that took place in Washington in June. In the past, both countries have used the meetings to address more contentious issues, including U.S. criticism of Cuba's human-rights record and Cuban complaints about the 48-year U.S. trade embargo on the Caribbean island. The immigration talks come even as the Obama administration continues to press for the release of a detained U.S. aid contractor. Toner repeated U.S. demands for Cuba to release Alan Gross, whom Cuba has accused of spying. Gross has been jailed for more than a year in Havana without charge, and U.S. officials have said there is little hope for improved relations while Cuba holds him.
