Coast Guard stops 8 Cuban migrants off the Florida Keys

The U.S Coast Guard stopped eight Cuban migrants in a boat off the Upper Keys this week. They were sent back to Cuba.

A good Samaritan on Monday alerted Coast Guard Sector Key West to the people in the “rustic vessel,” the Coast Guard reported.

A Station Islamorada rescue crew was launched “due to concerns of safety of life at sea.” A Customs and Border Protection crew also arrived on the scene.

Seven men and one woman were found in the boat south of Islamorada and transferred to the crew on the Coast Guard Cutter William Trump, which brought them back to Cuba on Thursday, the Coast Guard said.

“It’s a process from the actual interdiction,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Murray, in Miami. “It usually takes a few days.”

There were no reported injuries, he said.

The Coast Guard on Thursday said it has stopped approximately 58 Cuban migrants who have attempted to illegally enter the U.S by sea in fiscal year 2021, which began Oct. 1, 2020.

“These numbers represent the total number of at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean,” the Coast Guard said.

“The Coast Guard and our partner agencies will continue to rescue and repatriate undocumented migrants who take to the sea in unseaworthy vessels without safety equipment or a way to call for help,” said Lt. Cmdr. Mario Gil, Coast Guard liaison officer to Cuba.

Gil said, “Voyages like these are never worth the risk. The Florida Straits waters are unpredictable and the risk for loss of life is great on vessels such as this.”

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.