The Coast Guard stopped 17 Cuban migrants off the Florida Keys

The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday returned 17 people to Cuba after they were stopped in a rustic boat off the Florida Keys last week.

The migrants were interdicted March 18 by the Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton crew about 54 miles south of Key West.

They were brought aboard due to “safety of life at sea concerns,” the Coast Guard reported.

Since Oct. 1, 2020, the Coast Guard has stopped 107 people from Cuba trying to reach Florida by sea, compared to 49 in all of fiscal year 2020.

“People who attempt to illegally enter the United States by taking to the sea put their lives, and the lives of their accompanying family members at grave risk,” said Lt. Cmdr. Mario Gil, the Coast Guard liaison officer at the U.S. Embassy in Havana. “We strongly discourage these dangerous and deadly voyages in favor of safe and legal ways to enter the United States.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 6:04 PM.

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.