The Government of the United States returned to Cuba this Sunday a group of 12 irregular migrants and with them there are already 4,261 people deported by the authorities in Washington, by air and sea, so far in 2023, according to the Ministry of the Interior of the island.
The 12 Cubans had left the country illegally with foreign support and were later intercepted at sea by the US Coast Guard (USCG).
Among those returned are two citizens who “were on probation for compliance with criminal sanctions at the time of leaving the island”, for which reason “they will be made available to the corresponding courts for the revocation of said benefit”, adds the Ministry statement.
The Cubans who returned on this date were received by the island’s authorities in the port of Orozco in Bahía Honda, Artemisa province.
This operation to return irregular migrants is the 99th of those carried out from the US so far in 2023, by air and sea.
The Cuban authorities state that they remain “firm” in their commitment to “regular, safe and orderly migration,” and insist on “the danger and life-threatening conditions that illegal departures from the country by sea represent.”
Cuba and the US have a bilateral agreement so that all migrants who arrive by sea are returned to the island. During this fiscal year, which began on October 1, more than 6,800 Cubans have been intercepted by the US Coast Guard on trips to the Florida coast.
In addition, since last November repatriation by air was added. Both countries agreed to resume deportation flights for “inadmissible” people held at the border with Mexico.
The return of “inadmissible” people was agreed in 2017, but was suspended in December 2020 with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the cooling of bilateral relations after the “thaw” period.
This week, the US returned a group of 29 Cubans on the fifth flight of this type since the end of 2020.
Data from the Customs and Border Protection Office specify that the number of Cubans who have crossed the southern border has increased from 38,139 in fiscal year 2021, some 220,321 in 2022 and more than 110,000 in the first 9 months of the current fiscal year.
During 2023, Cuba has also received repatriated migrants from the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
