This Friday 90 rafters have been deported to the island by the Coast Guard. They were intercepted on Tuesday, January 17 off the coast of South Florida in five separate arrivals.
In a statement, the authorities resumed calling on Cubans, and people of other nationalities, not to risk their lives on a dangerous journey that can take between a couple of days and weeks.
In recent times, the Coast Guard has stepped up deportations, especially after the Biden administration created a program of parole to accept 30,000 citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua per month, and which implies permanence in their respective countries, from where the new emigrants would be brought thanks to the sponsorship of a citizen or resident of the United States.
However, as they arrived after the new policy was implemented, these now returned rafters are not entitled to benefit from it.
In a statement issued last Tuesday, Lt. Col. Mark Cobb, head of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, said: “The United States embassy in Cuba has already resumed processing all immigration visas in Havana, and with Following the new legal pathways to enter the United States announced by the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, we urge all individuals to use the safe and legal means available to travel to the United States.”
Since October 1, the beginning of fiscal year 2023, the Coast Guard has intercepted 5,183 Cubans on the high seas. The previous fiscal year, the total number of rafters intercepted was 6,182.
