SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- The United States Coast Guard repatriated 17 Cuban rafters intercepted near the coast of Florida on Thursday, July 25.
Coast Guard agents spotted and detained the Cubans near the Florida Keys, they said in a statement. release on social network X.
The USCG clarified that the 17 migrants They were 24 miles south of the Marquesas Cays when an air crew from that government institution intercepted them.
For its part, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT) said the group was made up of 11 men, three women and three minors, the latter aged seven, 10 and 16.
“The 11 men, three women and three minors (7, 10 and 16 years old) had participated in an illegal exit from the country and were subsequently intercepted by that service,” the MININT wrote on the social network, without specifying where and when they had left Cuba.
In an unprecedented migratory exodus, repatriations by sea or air do not stop. Numerous groups of Cubans try to cross the Florida Straits to escape the harsh conditions of life on the Island.
The accelerated migration
Amid a context of food shortages, medical supplies and a serious inflationary crisis, many residents of the largest of the Antilles risk their lives to reach the United States.
Last Thursday, July 18, a group of 54 irregular migrants was returned to Cuba on a flight from the United States. With this operation, the number of Cubans returned from different countries in the region in 53 returns carried out so far in 2024 reached 823.
This last group was made up of 40 men and 14 women and arrived at the José Martí International Airport, according to information from the Ministry of the Interior (Minint), quoted by the official pressMost of those deported had left Cuba legally, but then took irregular routes with the aim of reaching the US border.
Despite the current migration crisis, which has seen nearly half a million Cubans enter the United States in the past three years, the humanitarian parole program launched by the Biden Administration has helped reduce the flow of rafters.
Last June, some 17,563 Cubans arrived at the border, with a daily average of 585. That month was the period with the fewest Cuban arrivals to the United States since the US fiscal year 2024 began in October 2023.
Follow our channel WhatsApp. Receive the information from CubaNet on your cell phone through Telegram.
