More Cubans being caught at sea

IMMIGRATION
More Cubans being caught at sea

More Cuban migrants were interdicted and returned home, though three of
those stopped were taken to Guantánamo for possible resettlement in a
third country.
Posted on Mon, Mar. 24, 2008
BY JENNIFER LEBOVICH
jlebovich@MiamiHerald.com

The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 78 Cuban migrants Friday, after they
were stopped in several small groups over a seven-day stretch, officials
said Sunday.

They said the 78 sent back were among 82 people stopped. One of those
was turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as a suspected
smuggler -- and three others were taken to the U.S. Naval Base in
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Those taken to Guantánamo are generally considered
political dissidents who would face persecution in Cuba if returned.

The number of Cubans leaving the island and being interdicted has been
steadily rising since Fidel Castro took ill in July 2006. He resigned as
president and his younger brother Raúl assumed the duty as head of the
ruling Council of State last month.

628 THIS YEAR

So far this year, the Coast Guard has interdicted 628 Cuban migrants.

That number includes the 78 repatriated Friday to Bahia de Cabañas.

Last year, the U.S. Coast Guard stopped 3,197 Cuban migrants in the
Florida Straits, the largest number of Cuban migrants stopped in a
single year since the 1994 exodus brought more than 37,000 Cubans to
South Florida.

''People are always trying to illegally come to the United States and
needlessly place themselves in harm's way,'' U.S. Coast Guard Petty
Officer Nick Ameen said. ``It's the Coast Guard's duty to try and save
these people from certain dangers out at sea.''

The latest Cuban migrants were encountered in several different
incidents in the Florida Straits, off the Bahamas and the Florida Keys
between March 11 and March 17, officials said.

Most of those stopped during these incidents traveled on homemade boats
or rafts. But one group tried the journey aboard a go-fast boat, perhaps
an indication that it was a smuggling operation.

NUMBERS ARE TELLING

Between Oct. 1 and March 20, there have been 133 episodes involving
go-fast vessels and 38 incidents involving homemade boats, the Coast
Guard said in a statement.

''These numbers tell us that Cubans are continuing to endanger
themselves and others in attempts to illegally enter the United
States,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, a Coast Guard spokesman, in the
statement.

Under the U.S. wet foot/dry foot policy, undocumented Cuban migrants who
reach U.S. shores are generally allowed to stay, but those caught at sea
are usually returned to the island.

Miami Herald staff writer Alfonso Chardy contributed to this report.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/467699.html