MADRID, Spain.- The United States Coast Guard (USCG) repatriated 41 people on Friday Cuban migrants (31 men, eight women and two minors) who had attempted to reach the United States illegally by sea.
According to the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), aforementioned by the official Cuban News Agency (ACN), They were returned to the Island through the port of Orozco, in Bahía Honda, Artemisa province.
“One of these people was on parole for serving criminal penalties at the time of leaving the nation and will be placed at the disposal of the corresponding courts,” reads the note. ACN.
With this return, the number of irregular Cuban migrants repatriated from different countries in the region rises to 980 so far this year.
Cuba and the United States have a bilateral agreement that stipulates the return to the island of all migrants who arrive in the United States by sea. In addition, deportation flights between Cuba and the United States are prohibited. USAsuspended since December 2020, were resumed in April 2023 following talks between the two countries to address the migration crisis.
However, despite this and the repeated warnings from US authorities, who have made it clear that those who enter the country illegally will be deported, the flow of Cuban migrants has not stopped.
This week a group of 21 Cuban rafters was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard after landing in the Florida Keys. These people, now in custody, will face the corresponding legal process, which in most cases ends in repatriation.
According to the latest figures from the Customs and Border Protection Office According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP), in fiscal year 2024, until July, 196,567 Cubans had arrived in the United States, of whom almost 2,000 were minors.
From 2021 to date, the Cuban exodus exceeds previous migratory waves, such as the Rafter Crisis in 1994, the Mariel exodus in 1980, and Boca de Camarioca in 1965.
