New York  - The United States and Cuba resumed on Tuesday talks to implement an agreement that would provide a "safe, legal and orderly migration" between Cuba and the United States.

The talks held at an unspecified site in New York City came weeks after US President Barack Obama issued a new policy to improve US- Cuban relations and lift some of the restrictions against migration imposed on Cuba for more than half a century.

The US Department of State said US and Cuban representatives met to discuss implementation of the US-Cuba Migration Accords and focus on "how best to promote safe, legal, and orderly migration between Cuba and the United States."

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Craig Kelly led the US delegation, which includes representatives of the agencies involved in managing migration issues, the Department of State said.

Migration talks were suspended in 2003 by president George W Bush. But Obama offered a resumption of the talks in May in an effort to thaw the relationship between the two countries and to ease limits on family travel to Cuba.

The United States is home to a large community of Cubans who fled their country since the early 1950s. (dpa)