Originally Posted by
YVR Cockroach
Not unlike the U.S. policy on Cuban refugees. They're safe and granted asylum (by law) once they reach U.S. soil but otherwise the USCG sends them home if intercepted at sea.
That policy sort of applies to non-Cubans too; what is different for the Cubans is how exactly they are handled on arrival and the presumptions applied.
By law, those who arrive on US soil and claim asylum are not lawfully to be sent home until it is deemed safe and the asylum claim declined on the basis of not meeting the asylum requirements that are binding on the US under international and domestic law. That applies to Cubans and non-Cubans on US soil.