Founded in 1993, and supported by over fifty U.S. organizations, the Freedom to Travel Campaign demands an end to all laws that restrict the constitutional and internationally recognized right of U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba. Currency controls, enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department, prohibit most U.S. citizens from traveling to Cuba. Those who violate the controls are subject to up to hefty fines and prison terms. While up to one hundred thousand U.S. citizens travel to Cuba each year, legally and illegally, the threat of such penalties serves as a significant deterrent to the free flow of information between our two peoples. The right to travel is supported by all major U.S. human rights, civil liberties, academic, religious, and humanitarian organizations, as well as the editorial boards of all major news agencies, in the U.S, Cuba, and the world community at large.
In the past, the Freedom to Travel Campaign has organized open challenges to the travel restrictions, and was party to a lawsuit during 1994-96 on the right to travel. Currently the Campaign engages in legislative lobbying, there being as many as three bills pending in the current session of Congress, and engages in extensive public education work on the issue.
