The number of rafters retained by the Service of Coastguard of the United States (USCG, for its acronym in English) exceeded in the last six months the number reported in the entire previous fiscal year, according to data offered by this institution over the weekend.
From October 1, 2022 to date, the Coast Guard has intercepted 6,202 Cubans, twenty more than those notified in the previous fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2021 and ends on September 30 of the following year.
#BREAKING @USCG Cutter Isaac Mayo’s crew repatriated 64 people to Cuba, Sun.
“Anyone attempting to enter the US illegally by sea will be rescued & repatriated & those who land will be apprehended & processed for removal.” – LCDR Beal, D7. https://t.co/GSIxLUUpdH@USEmbCuba pic.twitter.com/mxY3JNkvEW
—USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) April 2, 2023
The news transcended this Sunday, when said institution delivered 64 rafters to Cuba.
This group made up of 54 men and 10 women was delivered by the port of Orozco in the Artemisa province. All left illegally by sea and were intercepted in the Florida Straits.
Most of the members of this group are citizens residing in the provinces of Matanzas and Mayabeque (west), adds the note released by the Minint cited by the agency efe.
In contrast, the number of irregular Cuban migrants trying to reach the United States by land has decreased.
Land migration data
This weekend the National Migration Service (SNM) of Panama reported that in the month of March only 220 Cubans had crossed the insecure Darien jungle, the natural border between Panama and Colombia.
Cubans have ceased to be one of the main migratory groups through that area, now headed by migrants from Venezuela, with a total (from January 1 to March 31) of 30,250; followed by Haitians (23,640), Ecuadorians (14,227) and Chinese (3,855).
Two years ago, between January and September 2021, some 12,800 Cubans crossed the Darién Jungle in the hope of continuing on their way to the United States, Canada or Mexico.
Measures
The government of Washington implemented at the beginning of 2023 a policy to welcome 30,000 migrants per month from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua.
In parallel, I would immediately expel Mexico undocumented immigrants from those countries who attempt to cross the southern border into their territory irregularly.
More than 87,000 migrants crossed the Darién in the first quarter of 2023
Mexico, for its part, agreed to admit 30,000 migrants a month who are expelled from US territory.
The number of Cubans trying to reach the United States through the southern border has been decreasing till i drop last February to 753, according to data provided by the US Customs and Border Protection Office.
