Havana, September 1 (RHC)-- The United States remains steadfast in the defense of its migratory policy toward Cuba, despite a petition by nine Latin American governments to revise it.

During the State Department's regular press briefing on August 30,  spokesman John Kirby, acknowledged receipt of a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that same day by the Foreign Ministers of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru.

Kirby responded by noting that “there are currently no plans to change U.S. migratory policy towards Cuba.”

"The Cuban Adjustment Act remains in place and the wet foot/dry foot remains U.S. policy regarding Cuban migration," the State Department official added.

The Cuban Adjustment Act, in force since 1966, and the "wet-foot-dry-foot" policy afford special privileges to Cubans who arrive in the U.S., as opposed to immigrants from other countries.

Several Latin American governments have described Washington's migratory policy as 'discriminatory'. They argue that it encourages disorderly, irregular and unsafe flows of Cuban citizens through various Latin American countries on route to the United States, thus contributing also to a migration and humanitarian crisis in the region.