40 Cuban immigrants come ashore near Mar-a-Lago

40 Cuban immigrants come ashore near Mar-a-Lago
By JASON SCHULTZ
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 26, 2008

PALM BEACH — A group of 40 Cuban immigrants will get to start the New
Year in the United States after coming ashore on Palm Beach near the
Mar-a-Lago Club Friday night.

The immigrants, including three children and one pregnant woman, were
dropped off by a 35-foot boat that came ashore in the 1200 block of
South Ocean Boulevard, just south of the club, around 7:30 p.m., said
Palm Beach Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Pete Codispoti.

None of them were injured but the pregnant woman and her 8-year-old
daughter were taken to a local hospital after the woman complained of
stomach pains, Codispoti said.

Police and U.S. Border Patrol agents quickly rounded up all the
immigrants and were holding them at the side of a parking lot near the
roundabout where Southern Boulevard meets Ocean Boulevard late Friday
night. They were given blankets and water.

Codispoti said the immigrants told police they left on Sunday, though he
was not sure if the boat left directly from Cuba.

All of the immigrants will likely be allowed to apply for asylum to stay
in the United States because of the U. S. policy that allows Cuban
immigrants to apply for asylum if the make it onto U.S. soil before
being caught by authorities. The border patrol would take custody of the
immigrants and would fingerprint them and try to contact any relatives
they had who live in the United States, Codispoti said.

Police found the boat on the shore but did not find anybody inside it,
he said.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/12/26/1226cubans.html