Obama visits holy site for Cuban Americans

by Jordan Fabian - 05/28/15 3:23 PM ET

President Obama on Thursday visited a Catholic shrine in Miami to pay respects to Cuban Americans.

The president briefly stopped by the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity, where het met with the Rev. Juan Rumin Dominguez, the Cuban-American pastor of the shrine. The church was built in the late 1960s in large part thanks to donations from immigrants and exiles from Cuba.

{mosads}At the church, Obama honored “the sacrifices that Cuban-Americans have made in their pursuit of liberty and opportunity, as well as their extraordinary contributions to our country,” according to National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan.

Obama’s visit comes as the U.S. and Cuba are moving closer to normalizing diplomatic relations, which were broken off after the island’s communist revolution in the 1960s.

Cuba is expected to be removed from the U.S.’s list of state sponsors of terror this week, following a 45-day review period in Congress. That could pave the way for both nations to re-open their long-shuttered embassies. An announcement could be made as early as next week, according to ABC News.

The president was in Miami to tour the National Hurricane Center and attend two high-dollar fundraisers with Democratic donors. He also met with the family of Stephen Sotloff, an American journalist who was beheaded by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria extremists last September.

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