MIAMI, United States. – The United States Coast Guard repatriated 143 Cuban rafters this Tuesday, after several rescue operations off the coast of Florida, according to the agency itself. a press release.
The Coast Guard has repatriated 3,839 Cuban rafters since the start of the current fiscal year (October 1). Thus, in just three months and less than a week to the end of 2022, the number of rafters intercepted in the Florida Straits rises to almost 4,000.
Every week, dozens of Cubans approach the coast of the United States, where they are generally intercepted by Coast Guard agents and then deported to the island. However, many of them perish at sea before reaching land.
“Coast Guard teams and our partner agencies maintain an active presence in the Florida Straits, Windward and Mona Passages to save lives and promote safe and legal migration,” said Lieutenant Connor Ives, Coast Guard District Seven. “Anyone trying to migrate illegally by sea will be intercepted and returned to their country of origin,” he added.
The Island is experiencing an unprecedented migration crisis, where not only the rafters intercepted by the United States Coast Guard are counted, but also the nationals who travel to Nicaragua and undertake the journey to the southern border of the northern country.
This December 25, Christmas Day, 15 Cuban rafters made landfall in the Florida Keys, according to reported on Twitter Officer Walter N. Slosar, United States Coast Guard.
Last Thursday transcended that, during the previous 24 hours, 175 Cuban migrants had been taken into the custody of the United States Border Patrol.
“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 alerted Cuban rafters that it would reinforce surveillance in the Straits of Florida, with a view to confronting 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 migration crisis has become a National Security concern.
“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 immigration agreements between Cuba and the US establish that people who are intercepted on the high seas will be returned to the island.
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