This Monday the Border Patrol (USBP) detained 37 Cubans who sailed to the outskirts of the Florida coast, in Key West, aboard two fishing boats.
El Político
According to the informative website Cibercuba, the chief patrol agent, Thomas G. Martin, explained that the authorities "responded to an event of maritime smuggling." And that the Cuban migrants were taken into custody by the US authorities.
In advance, this weekend the USBP notified the arrest of another 15 Cuban rafters who made landfall in a homemade boat. They were apprehended on the spot, in the vicinity of Summerland Key, in the Florida Keys.
After the start of the new fiscal year of the United States on October 1, both the detention of rafters on the high seas and the illegal arrival of Cuban migrants to the coasts of the Keys or the Peninsula continue to rise. One of the most emblematic cases was the arrival of 18 Cubans in Key West on October 10. Images filmed by a resident of the area showed the moment when 17 men and a woman disembarked to the shore, where the local authorities were waiting for them.
10 balseros cubanos acaban de ser rescatados por la Guardia Costera en medio del estrecho de La Florida. #Cuba pic.twitter.com/bhuqRXnd8a
— Yusnaby Pérez (@Yusnaby) January 4, 2015
A day later, on October 11, Monroe County police officers detained 32 Cuban immigrants at a traffic stop. They were transported secretly aboard a speedboat, which was trailing behind a truck in Cayo Marathon.
In recent months, the US Coast Guard and USBP have detained several dozen Cubans. In general, they flee amid the serious economic and political crisis that the Caribbean island is experiencing. That is why they decide to cross the Straits of Florida, despite the risks to their lives.
The Florida State Border Protection Patrol maintains a warning status for migrants trying to reach the United States by sea. And that the authorities remain alert to irregular entry attempts and advised not to board.
In the last fiscal year (from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021), the coast guard rescued 838 Cuban rafters at sea or off the US coast.
Source: Cibercuba
