Three Cuban rafters were arrested by US border authorities, after making landfall this Sunday in a rustic boat at Truman Waterfront Park, in Key West.
“Key West, FL: Border Patrol agents and associated police forces responded to a landing of migrants early this morning. Three Cuban migrants were taken into custody after making landfall in a rustic boat at Truman Waterfront Park,” the agent reported on Twitter. Walter N. Solarhead of the USBP in the Miami sector.
The three cuban immigrants They arrived in the Florida Keys aboard a wooden boat, with an adapted engine and the eloquent name “Sacrifice”, inside which were travelers’ belongings and fuel containers, as can be seen in the photo posted by the Border Patrol. .
In the past eight months of the current fiscal year (FY2023), 28,057 Cuban rafters have touched the coast of South Floridato which are added those who entered through the Tampa sector, for a total of 30,199, according to figures from the Customs and Border Protection Department (CBP).
Only last May, 5,532 Cuban immigrants arrived irregularly through the Miami sector, while in April 5,928 entered through that same area.
Los arrivals of rafters in South Florida they do not forecast a cessation in the immediate future, quite the contrary, they continue their upward escalation, and have set off the alarms of the immigration authorities for the summer, a time usually very active in illegal trips in the Straits of Florida, whether in boats rustic or in human trafficking operations.
Last Monday, a Cuban rafter – who has not been identified – died during the interception by the US Coast Guard (USCG) of a vessel in Bahamian waters headed for the Florida coast.
The boat, with 15 Cuban immigrants on board, was stopped about 16 miles southeast of Anguilla Cay around 8:30 pm Monday.
After intercepting it, the US Coast Guard discovered that one of the rafters was unconscious and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 30 minutes; but he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter by the acting USCG doctor, according to the official statement.
In the current fiscal year, which began on October 1, the Coast Guard has intercepted 6,800 Cubans during their journey to the coast of Floridathe highest number since the rafter crisis of 1994.
