MADRID, Spain.- Faced with the continued arrival of migrants to the US coasts and maritime interceptions —despite the intensification of policies against irregular immigration—, the United States Government insisted this week: “Our maritime borders are closed to irregular and illegal migration.
Through a release Capt. Benjamin Golightly, Operation Vigilant Sentry Incident Commander, said: “It is imperative that family and friends share this with their loved ones in Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. The journey is dangerous and you could lose your life.”
Benjamin Golightly stressed that migrants intercepted at sea will be repatriated to their country of origin or to the territory from which they left.
He also recalled that, as advertisement the US Embassy in Havana this May 14, those who try to enter the northern country illegally will be disqualified from the process of humanitarian parole launched by the Biden administration last January.
The statements by the US Coast Guard occurred after the repatriation of 169 people, many of them Cubans, carried out between last Friday and this Tuesday.
Coast Guard crews repatriated and transferred 169 people to Cuba and the Bahamas between Friday and Tuesday. These repatriations and transfers came from nine separate trips, originating from these two territories.
Since October 1, 2022 —beginning of the current fiscal year— Coast Guard crews have detained 6,679 Cuban migrants.
This Thursday it emerged that a group of 23 Cuban migrants had arrived in Islamorada, Florida, on a sailboat. While on Saturday they reached the coast of Florida, near Geiger Key, eight rafters Cubans in a homemade boat. All were taken into custody for later deportation.
