Seventeen Cuban migrants met by police as they came ashore on Key West beach, video shows
A group of Cuban migrants landed Sunday morning in Key West, where they were met by police.
It’s a sight that’s become familiar in the Florida Keys, as the number of people willing to make the dangerous journey from Cuba to South Florida has significantly increased. Experts say it’s due to deteriorating economic and political conditions within the island nation, including a worsening COVID-19 situation.
This arrival was captured on video by a Key West man who happened upon the scene by Smathers Beach on South Roosevelt Boulevard, across from the Key West International Airport.
There were 17 people who made it to Key West on a migrant vessel commonly called a chug, WLRN reported. They will likely be returned to Cuba by the Coast Guard.
Warren Leamard, of Key West, posted the video he made on Facebook, where it was widely shared.
The video shows the group being met by police officers, who helped pull each person over the seawall, as the sun rises.
Leamard, who owns Destination Catering and Events, was working early Sunday. He was driving back from delivering food at about 7:20 a.m. when he spotted a police car on the sidewalk off South Roosevelt.
Next he saw a line of people wading through the ocean on their way to land.
“That’s when I got out of my vehicle and went over and realized, this is what’s happening,” Leamard said. “I saw folks with floats and backpacks and such. It really hit me, being an immigrant from Jamaica. I really understood what these people went through to come here.”
In the video, Leamard points out the vessel the migrants used is floating in the distance.
Leamard considered the reasons why Cubans take great risks to cross the Florida Straits to try in attempts to reach the United States.
“To come across that body of water, not quite sure where the current is going to take you and to just come on a hope and a prayer,” Leamard said. “You can tell they really are going through some struggles and they’re coming here to make a better life for themselves. That’s just my personal belief.”
Leamard, 54, came to the U.S. in 1985.
“I went through the immigration process,” he said. “The whole process: work permit, green card, citizenship,” he said. “I started out as a housekeeper and dishwasher. Now I own my own catering company. America has so much to give. I am very grateful.”
Maritime migration from Cuba has spiked this year, with the Coast Guard reporting a week ago their crews have stopped 838 people during the fiscal year they use, which runs from October to October.
In 2020, the number was 49.
The 17 people who arrived Sunday in Key West were treated to breakfast, brought by a police officer’s wife, according to WLRN.
On Thursday, 13 Cuban migrants made it to land on Big Pine Key in the Lower Keys on a homemade wooden boat, Border Patrol said. They were taken into federal custody.
On Sept. 26, the Coast Guard rescued nine Cubans who were spotted on a “rustic vessel” about 54 miles southwest of the Marquesas Keys, the agency reported. The group was returned to Cuba on Oct. 1.
Maritime migration from Cuba to South Florida had waned in the years after then-President Barack Obama ended the decades-old “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy in early 2017.
That policy allowed those who stepped foot on U.S. soil to stay in the country and apply for permanent residency after a year. Those caught at sea were sent back.
Those caught at sea were sent back to Cuba. Now, all Cubans attempting to enter the U.S. without a visa are returned.
This story was originally published October 10, 2021 at 1:27 PM.
%20Cropped%20(1).jpg)