“This is a huge victory for families in the Tampa Bay area,” Castor said. “The unnecessary hardship of these burdensome restrictions has finally been lifted for Cuban-Americans and their loved ones.”

Families will be allowed to visit their relatives in Cuba once a year, rather than once every three years, as was the rule during the Bush Administration. Castor credits Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., for including this much needed relief in the bill. The House passed the appropriations bill containing this relief last month. The Senate approved it yesterday, and President Obama is expected to sign it.

Castor has been pushing for these changes. In December, she wrote to then-President Elect Obama about travel to Cuba, calling for him to lift the restrictions that limit family travel to Cuba.

“My office deals with the personal struggles that these limitations bring on a regular basis,” Castor wrote. “Sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and grandsons and granddaughters are unable to visit sick or dying relatives in Cuba. In their quest to travel to Cuba to say goodbye or comfort a loved one, they are subjected to the worst kind of bureaucratic red tape because of the restrictions.”

With the bill’s passage, Castor said: “Finally, families can travel to Cuba to visit their loved ones. This is long overdue and will go a long way toward improving the quality of life for Cuban-Americans and their families.”