They rioted after learning that they might be sent back to their homeland under the new immigration agreement.

For my family, ignorant of cold war politics and immigration agreements, Mariel was simply a way out, one that my parents had been awaiting a long time.

The rioting was triggered by an immigration agreement that meant thousands of boatlift Cubans who had wound up in American prisons would be returned to Cuba.

The immigration agreement reached yesterday between Washington and Havana is a good beginning.

Senior Administration officials deny that the immigration agreement is the first step toward normalizing relations.

She emphasized that President Bush had to negotiate immigration agreements with Congress and various political and business sectors, saying the discussions involved "a lot of moving parts."

Some of these people can now be returned to Cuba under an immigration agreement signed by officials of Cuba and the United States last month.

In London, he also sought to negotiate an immigration agreement with the United Kingdom.

A Cuban diplomat in Washington said he could not discuss his country's position in detail, but said, "We're interested in resuming the immigration agreement."

Mr. Castro angrily suspended the immigration agreement.