HAVANA.- Los Cubans They continue to escape from the island by any means possible. Since last October 1, when fiscal year 2024 began, to date, the Coast Guard has repatriated 235 migrants a Cuba.
Last November they tried to enter USA 20,076 Cubans, of which 14,502 did so through the southern border with Mexico, according to data from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency.
Of that total, 131 were unaccompanied minors, and 63 were children and adolescents traveling with their families, martinoticias.com reported.
So far this fiscal year, Cubans intercepted at US borders total 38,154.
Cubans also recorded important statistics during fiscal year 2023 in income through US border points.
In that period, a total of 200,287 Cubans were detained at the country’s border points, behind Mexicans and Venezuelans, who totaled 735,937 and 334,914, respectively.
“As we enter the new year, USCG and our partners within the Southeastern Homeland Security Task Force remain committed to patrolling the Florida Straits, Windward Passages, and Mona Strait to prevent and deter illegal entry into the United States by sea,” said Lt. Cmdr. John W. Beal, public affairs officer for USCG District Seven, based in Miami.
“Migrants who try to evade legal means to enter the United States by sea will be rescued and repatriated to their country of origin or departure. Do not jump into the sea,” the official warned.
Between January and June of last year, at least 71 migrants lost their lives or disappeared in their attempt to reach the United States from Cuba by sea, according to the Missing Migrants project of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
36 rafters disappear
A group of 36 Cuban rafters is missing after they prepared to cross the Strait of Florida towards the United States, reported Cuban journalist Daniel Benitez on his YouTube channel.
The rafters left on December 27, from Cárdenas, in a homemade boat.
The relatives of the rafters indicated that they do not have any information about the missing people. They wonder if they were detained by the Coast Guard or the US Border Patrol, reported diodecuba.com.
On YouTube, Benitez published a photo of the boat, in which it could be seen “in the middle of a field in Cuba so they could escape illegally,” said Benitez, who said that he is waiting for a video from the relatives in which They would tell more details. The rafters’ relatives told Benítez that “the only thing missing was the engine.”
30 migrants arrive in Florida
On the other hand, a group of 30 Cuban migrants arrived in the United States this Wednesday aboard a rustic boat and were taken into custody of the Border Patrol, the head of the Miami sector of said security body, Samuel Briggs, reported on the social network .
The rafters were detained by authorities after making landfall on the Marquesas Keys, uninhabited islands west of Key West, Florida.
The maritime route that Cubans use to reach the United States has increased its flows in recent days. On December 31, a group of 11 rafters arrived in Florida and were taken into Border Patrol custody. The Coast Guard repatriated 56 Cubans on Tuesday after intercepting them on three different vessels.
It is worth remembering that 2023 closed with the repatriation of some 5,253 Cubans from various countries in the region. Most of these migrants were intercepted and returned by the US Coast Guard during their journey through the Straits of Florida.
Source: With information from Diario de Cuba / martinoticias.com
