The United States Coast Guard repatriated this Tuesday 28 Cuban rafters who were intercepted off the coast of Key West and Key Vibora. According to a statement from this body, the undocumented immigrants were taken to the island on the coast guard ship Margaret Norvell.
Last Sunday, a person informed the Key West Coast Guard of a 15-foot boat that was approximately 20 miles southeast of Cayo Víbora. US authorities did not specify how many Cubans were found on the raft.
On Saturday the coastguard crew Margarette Norvell located one more raft 25 miles south of Key West and reported it to the Coast Guard. And on Friday, another person notified authorities of a 10-foot boat about 50 miles south of the archipelago.
Cubans and Haitians are the most numerous migrants intercepted at sea by the authorities and figures from the US Coast Guard indicate a notable increase in interceptions of people of these nationalities in 2021 and so far in 2022. From 1 As of October 2021, the coast guards have intercepted 842 rafters from the Island.
Since October 1, 2021, the Coast Guard has intercepted 842 rafters from the Island
In early February, the United States Border Patrol arrested 10 Cubans after they made landfall in the Florida Keys. The rafters arrived in a very precarious boat made of scrap metal and rags.
Petty Officer 3rd Class José Hernández warned of the danger of sailing on rafts and of the active presence of the Coast Guard and authorities across the Straits of Florida, in which “they help save lives by removing people from these unsafe voyages. “.
Hernández recalled that once on board a Coast Guard patrol boat “all migrants receive food, water, shelter, and basic medical care,” in addition to the fact that the Coast Guard is equipped to minimize possible exposure to any possible case of covid-19. .
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