The Coast Guard has sent back to Cuba another 82 rafters intercepted off the coast of Florida between January 8 and last Friday, authorities reported.
According to Jorge Valente, spokesman for the Miami-based Seventh District of the Coast Guard, the repatriation is due to the existence “of new routes [de inmigración] announced by the White House and the Department of Homeland Security. The new admission system for parole with a sponsor is the basis for returns.
These rafters cannot apply for a parole because they tried to arrive illegally after announced the new policy last January 5th.
On Thursday, January 12, the coast guard deported 177 rafters, a figure that adds to the almost 300 returned to Cuba in the last week.
This group includes rafters intercepted between January 4 and last Saturday along the Florida Keys.
In another statement about this deportation, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Cobb, head of the Seventh District of the Coast Guard, said: “The United States embassy in Cuba has already resumed processing all immigration visas in Havana, and with the new Legal pathways to enter the United States announced by the White House and the Department of Homeland Security urge all individuals to use the safe and legal means available to travel to the United States.”
