Two of eight rafters who made landfall in the Florida Keys had to be taken to a hospital because they were “hypothermic.” posted on social media Walter N. Slosar, Miami Sector Border Patrol Agent. The migrants were detained in two separate events.
The arrival of rafters showed an increase in early April, when the border official reported the arrest of “77 people from four different countries” in two days. Among these arrivals is the arrival of 15 Cubans who were arrested after disembarking in Key West.
The Coast Guard has intercepted 730 rafters at sea since October 1, 2021. The background of the exodus of Cubans to Florida has relevant data in March. on the 17th were taken into custody 16 citizens of the Island. This group joins the one on March 12, when they were arrested 17 other migrants that also made landfall in the keys. Until that moment, officer Slosar counted more than 60 maritime smuggling events.
Data from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office indicate that in the last five months a total of 47,331 Cubans entered the country irregularly by land, through the border with Mexico. In February alone, 16,557 entries were registered.
Last January, 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.
Between Wednesday and Thursday of this week, Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley sector detained 306 migrants in two separate cases. “The migrants came from Cuba and various countries in Central and South America,” according to a statement of the federal agency.
“The groups were made up of 115 single adults, 90 family members, 89 unaccompanied children,” the Border Patrol said.
As recently as April 11, border agents in the Rio Grande Valley sector arrested four groups that were intercepted in places in La Grulla and Roma. In total 754 migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guatemala. “The groups were made up of 356 single adults, 275 family members, 123 unaccompanied children, including two US citizens traveling with their mother from Guatemala,” the Border Patrol published.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.