MADRID, Spain.- This Tuesday, August 27, Cuba received 48 irregular migrants deported on a flight from the United States. This brings the number of citizens returned to the island from various countries so far this year to 1,030.
The Ministry of the Interior (Minint), cited by the official press, The group, made up of 43 men and five women, included seven people who had left the island illegally by sea. Most of these migrants had left Cuba legally, but later joined irregular routes with the aim of reaching the US border.
Cuba and the United States have a bilateral agreement that stipulates the return of all Cuban migrants who arrive in the United States by sea. After being suspended in December 2020, deportation flights between the two countries resumed in April 2023, following negotiations to address the migration crisis.
Despite repeated warnings from U.S. authorities that those who enter illegally will be deported, the flow of Cuban migrants continues unabated.
Last Fridaythe United States Coast Guard repatriated another 41 Cuban migrants who were attempting to illegally reach the United States by sea.
A few days earlier, a group of 21 Cuban rafters was intercepted by the US Coast Guard after landing in the Florida Keys. They were taken into custody to face a legal process that, in most cases, ends with their repatriation.
According to the most recent figures from the United States Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), during fiscal year 2024, until July, 196,567 Cubans arrived in the United States, of whom almost 2,000 were minors.
Since 2021, the Cuban exodus has surpassed previous migratory waves, such as the Rafters Crisis in 1994, the Mariel exodus in 1980, and the Boca de Camarioca migration in 1965.
