54 Cubans repatriated from the US: 823 deported in 2024

MADRID, Spain.- A group of 54 irregular migrants He was returned to Cuba on a flight from the United States on Thursday, July 18. With this operation, the number of Cubans returned from different countries in the region in 53 returns carried out so far in 2024 has reached 823.

This last group was made up of 40 men and 14 women and arrived at the José Martí International Airport, according to information from the Ministry of the Interior (Minint), quoted by the official pressMost of those deported had left Cuba legally, but then took irregular routes with the aim of reaching the US border.

He Minint The agency also reported that six of the deportees had left Cuba illegally. Of these, two people were brought before the authorities for being suspected of serious crimes that were under investigation.

The deportation flights from the United States to the Island were resumed in April 2023. In addition, the governments of Havana and Washington maintain a bilateral agreement that stipulates the return of all migrants who arrive by sea to US territory.

This Tuesday, other 12 irregular migrants (eight men and four women) had been returned to Cuba. These people left the country in “a speedboat from abroad” and were sailing for approximately nine hours before being intercepted.

Numerous groups of Cubans try to cross the Florida Straits to escape the harsh conditions of life on the Island. Amid a context of food shortages, medical supplies and a serious inflationary crisis, many residents of the largest of the Antilles risk their lives to reach the United States. Despite the current migration crisis, through which almost half a million Cubans have entered the United States in the last three years, the humanitarian parole program launched by the Biden Administration has contributed to reducing the flow of rafters.

Last June, some 17,563 Cubans arrived at the border, with a daily average of 585. That month was the period with the fewest Cuban arrivals to the United States since the US fiscal year 2024 began in October 2023.

Since January 2023, a total of 106,757 Cubans have benefited from the humanitarian parole program, according to the most recent data from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP). Of these, 104,130 have arrived in the United States and have received parole under this process, since the beginning of the program until the end of June 2024.