Final answer:
The U.S. began collecting data on Cuban immigrants after Castro's rise to power in 1959, with significant events in 1980 and changes in policy in 1995.
Step-by-step explanation:
The United States began to systematically collect immigrant data on Cuban immigrants specifically after Fidel Castro's rise to power in 1959. The exodus of Cubans, mostly wealthy and educated, who were fleeing communist rule, settled primarily in the Miami, Florida, area. This migration peaked during the Mariel boatlift of 1980. The Cuban Migration Agreement of 1995 was a significant change in policy, which, along with the 'wet foot/dry foot' policy reported on by the Congressional Research Service in 2009, forms a part of the complex history of Cuban immigration to the United States.