Despite the arrests and deportations, the flow of Cuban rafters does not stop
14ymedio, Havana August 2, 2024 — The United States temporarily suspended travel permits for those who have received humanitarian parole for alleged “significant levels of fraud.” The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to Martí Noticias, stopped the trips “as a precaution” until the results of a report are clarified and warned of irregularities in the process. Washington must review the irregular requests of the sponsors – which seem to be the crux of the matter – to make sure that the forms for the beneficiaries of parole are in order. The sponsors’ documents contained social security numbers, addresses and telephone numbers that had been used on hundreds of similar applications.
The DHS “has mechanisms to detect and prevent fraud in our immigration processes. We take any abuse very seriously,” an unidentified spokesman for the Department told Martí Noticias. “When a fraud is identified, the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service) investigates and takes the cases to the immigration courts, in addition to referring them to the Department of Justice.
“We will restart the processing as soon as possible, with the appropriate safeguards,” the official said.
“We will restart the processing as soon as possible, with the appropriate safeguards,” the official said.
Since January of last year, the humanitarian parole program has helped 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and – since earlier months – Venezuela. As of last May, 105,000 Cubans had received parole, and 98,200 of them had arrived in the United States.
For its part, the American network Fox News said that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) had stopped issuing travel authorizations to the citizens of Venezuela – currently in political crisis after Nicolás Maduro’s non-recognition of the election results – as of July 6. On July 18, according to a Congressional source cited by Fox News, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans were also left without authorization.
The four countries continue to remain in limbo. In the case of the Island, the situation is critical, and Cubans have not stopped emigrating by air and sea, sometimes with disastrous results. That is what happened this Friday, when the U.S. Border Patrol took into custody 10 rafters who made their journey north on a boat, with registration number HA50363F.
Among the rafters were eight adults and two minors, said Samuel Briggs, head of the Command in the Miami Sector.
Between last Tuesday and this Friday, 43 migrants from the Island disembarked. Of these, 33 were prosecuted for deportation. According to the U.S. authorities, these Cubans were informed that illegal entry into the United States by sea could lead to criminal charges.
Between last Tuesday and this Friday, 43 migrants from the Island disembarked. Of them, 33 were prosecuted for deportation
The rafters “are not eligible to apply for asylum.” In addition, they are prohibited from entering U.S. territory for at least five years. However, the Biden Administration has clarified that deportations “will not apply to legal permanent residents, unaccompanied minors, victims of a serious form of human trafficking and other non-citizens who have a valid visa or other legal permission to enter the United States.”
Briggs highlighted the results of Operation Vigilant Sentry to mitigate illegal migration. In fiscal year 2023, 11,955 rafters were intercepted, he said, without specifying their nationality. “Once on board a coastguard vessel, people are processed to determine their identity; in addition, they receive food, water, shelter and basic medical care before being repatriated to their country of origin,” Lieutenant Cheri-Ann Thompson explained.
The Coast Guard warned about the dangers of illegal sea crossings, risks that increase when there is the formation of a tropical depression, such as the one detected this Thursday. “Regardless of development, heavy rains could cause flash floods in parts of Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas over the weekend,” the agency said on its social networks.
The governments of Havana and Washington maintain a bilateral agreement that stipulates the deportation of all irregular migrants who arrive by sea to U.S. territory. Migrants from the Island continue to flee. According to a recent CBP report, last June 17,563 Cubans arrived in the United States, the lowest monthly number of the current fiscal year 2024 that began last October.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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