MIAMI, United States. – The US Coast Guard rescued a Cuban migrant who was clinging to a support column of the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys this Wednesday morning, the Border Patrol confirmed to the miami herald.
According to the report of that medium -based on the report of Petty Officer Third Class Ryan Estrada, spokesman for the Coast Guard-, agents of that entity took the Cuban from the bridge and handed him over to the US Border Patrol around at 6:30 a.m. this Wednesday.
Authorities were tipped off to the incident by a Marathon resident, Francie Seidman-Boellard, who was taking a morning walk across the old Seven Mile Bridge. The woman heard whistles coming from the water, focused her flashlight and saw the Cuban.
“I ran as fast as this old body could get back to the car, where my phone was, and I called 911. I’m glad the man is alive,” he told the New Herald.
Also this Wednesday, the Border Patrol detained two other migrants from the largest of the Antilles, who reached the Florida Keys on windsurfing boards.
“Migrants will be processed for removal proceedings. No injuries were reported.” assured on Twitter Officer Walter N. Slosar.
Every week, dozens of Cubans approach the coast of Florida, where they are usually intercepted by Coast Guard agents and then deported to their country. However, many of them perish in the sea before reaching land.
“Illegal migration in rustic and improvised boats without safety equipment, such as a life jacket, is dangerous,” has warned Petty Officer 1st Class Nicole J. Groll, Coast Guard 7th District. “Risking their lives during these adventures causes their loved ones unnecessary anxiety about whether they are safe or lost at sea,” she added.
Recently, the United States embassy in Havana warned Cuban rafters that it would strengthen surveillance in the Straits of Florida, with a view to dealing with the increase in irregular maritime migration.
The diplomatic legation on the Island published on its social network account Twitter several tweets accompanied by a statement, in which he assures that the migratory crisis has become a concern of National Security.
“The Joint Homeland Security Task Force increased its operational posture to address a recent increase in irregular maritime migration. Agencies are increasing patrols and law enforcement by land, air and sea, day and night,” reads one of the Embassy publications.
The migration agreements between Cuba and the United States establish that people who are intercepted on the high seas will be returned to the island.
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