MIAMI, United States. — The United States Border Patrol (CBP) detained 20 Cuban rafters who made landfall in Cayo Pino Grande, Florida, on Wednesday morning.
Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar said on Twitter that the migrants were taken into federal custody shortly after making landfall in an artisanal vessel.
The arrival of Cuban rafters to the Florida Keys and other areas near the southern United States has skyrocketed in recent months, a symptom of the serious economic and political crisis that the Caribbean country is going through.
This Tuesday, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) deported 62 Cuban rafters and a dog that were intercepted in different operations carried out between Wednesday of last week and this Monday at points near the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and the west coast of that state.
According to the report of that organization, the migrants and the dog were returned to the island by the crew of the coast guard Charles David Jr.
Similarly, the crews of the Robert Yered and Pablo Valents coast guards had repatriated another 203 Cuban rafters rescued in 14 operations near the Florida coast last Saturday.
Both the US Coast Guard and Border Patrol have repeatedly warned that migrants who are intercepted trying to enter US territory illegally will be returned to Cuba or sent back to the country they departed from before being apprehended.
Since October 1, 2021—the beginning of the fiscal year in the United States—Coast Guard crews have intercepted more than 4,000 Cubans, the highest number recorded since fiscal year 2016, when 5,396 were rescued. the migrants have been deported to Cuba almost expeditiously after receiving rigorous food and medical attention.
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