MIAMI, United States.- Some 3,499 Cuban migrants have been returned to the island so far this year, in 82 such operations, from Mexico, the United States, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, according to a report by the news agency EFE that cited information from the official authorities of Cuba.
According to the note, the last repatriation operation occurred this Friday, when 36 Cubans were returned to the country from Mexico, from where 1,318 people have already been deported this year.
The Department of Customs and Border Protection of the United States (CBP, for its acronym in English) reported this week that only in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2021, 140 have arrived in the United States. 602 migrants from the island.
The figure exceeds the largest exodus of Cubans to date, in 1980, when 125,000 people left through the port of Mariel in just seven months.
Cuban authorities blame the Cuban Adjustment Act as one of the main reasons Cubans try to reach the United States by land or sea.
The Cuban Adjustment Act allows access to permanent residence in the United States to Cubans who remain at least one year in its territory.
The Cuban migration crisis has skyrocketed in recent months, some experts say due to the lifting of restrictions in the region, such as for Nicaragua, whose government established free visas for citizens of the island.
According to data from the United States Customs and Border Protection Office, in just two years, which coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic and a severe economic crisis on the island, the number of Cubans who left the country was 14,015. in 2020 to 140,602 in May this year.
The majority of Cuban migrants arrive in US territory through the border with Mexico, however, the number of those who do so by sea has also skyrocketed. Since October 2021, according to the Coast Guard, a total of 2,464 Cubans have been intercepted trying to reach US shores.
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