Border Patrol agents in the Miami sector took 16 Cuban rafters into custody, according to Officer Walter N. Slosar. in their social networks. The migrants were detained once they made landfall in the Florida Keys.
After being arrested, they were taken, as usual, to a migration center. Their options are to “apply for asylum,” which involves proving to an immigration officer or judge that they are afraid to return to their country. If the Cubans convince the judge, they will be “give a bond and they can ask for asylum”mentioned the immigration attorney Willy Allen.
Agent Slosar’s brief report indicates that the location of the rafters occurred after attending a “maritime smuggling event.”
Now, if it is proven that the rafters were victims of human trafficking, said the immigration attorney Miguel Diaz, their alternatives focus on applying for the D visa or the U visa, which victims of crimes can use, as long as the authorities consider that they can apply. Those who benefit from this type of visa are granted a residence permit for four years and a permit to work in the US.
Agent Slosar’s brief report indicates that the location of the rafters occurred after attending a “maritime smuggling event”
This group of Cubans joins the group of last March 12, 17 rafters who also made landfall in the Florida Keys and were taken into custody. Until that moment, officer Slosar counted more than 60 maritime smuggling events.
Two days earlier, in the same area, which includes 120 miles off the southern tip of Florida, the Border Patrol “arrested 29 Cuban migrants” who arrived in “a rustic boat” powered by a vehicle engine.
This Wednesday, the Department of Customs and Border Protection indicated that in the month of February recorded the highest numberin more than twenty years, of irregular income to the US with 16,657 Cubans.
The figure exceeded that reported in January, when 9,827 Cuban immigrants were detained, about 13 times more than the 732 in the same month of 2020, when Donald Trump was still in the White House.
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