14ymedio, Havana, 20 March 2024 — The United States Border Patrol processed for deportation 24 rafters who landed in Duck Key, Monroe County, Florida. The Cubans were arrested on Monday by Fisheries and Wildlife officers, who handed them over to the Border Patrol, reported the acting head of the Miami Sector, Samuel Briggs.
The detainees told the officers that their journey lasted two days, after they left the Island from the northern side. The authorities provided them with medical assistance and, after certifying that they were in good health, reminded them that those who illegally enter U.S. territory will be deported and will not be able to enter the United States within a period of five years, in addition to not being eligible to seek asylum.
The detainees told the officers that their journey lasted two days, after they left the Island from the northern side
Between January and February, the same officer Briggs also recorded the arrival of 45 rafters. A group of 20 Cubans arrived on the last day of December in the Florida Keys, while another 25 made landfall in January in Biscayne National Park. All were listed for deportation.
Under the bilateral agreement between Cuba and the United States to return to the Island those who arrive by sea, there were eight transfers to repatriate 426 rafters since April 2023, when air expulsions resumed.
During the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2022 and ended on September 30, 2023, more than 6,800 Cubans were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard on their way to Florida, according to official data.
The landing of these Cubans comes a week after the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, ordered the deployment of 250 police officers and soldiers to the Florida Keys to arrest rafters, mainly Haitians fleeing the violence in that country.
Between January and February, the same officer Briggs recorded the arrival of 45 rafters. A group of 20 Cubans arrived in February
However, so far, the United States Coast Guard has not recorded an increase in migrants in the waters of Florida.
“Currently no, there is nothing out of the ordinary,” the chief non-commissioned officer of the Miami Coast Guard, Stephen Lehmann, told the AP agency. “We have a team in the area and are waiting to see if there’s an influx.”
According to official figures, the U.S. Coast Guard has deported 131 Haitians who illegally entered the country by sea since the first day of last October, including 65 who were found on March 12 in a boat near the Bahamas.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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