Florida Keys

More than 40 Cubans arrive in the Florida Keys on migrant boat, Border Patrol says

A wooden fishing boat rests on Sombrero Beach in the Florida Keys Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. The U.S. Border Patrol says 43 people from Cuba, who the agency says are migrants, arrived on the vessel.
A wooden fishing boat rests on Sombrero Beach in the Florida Keys Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. The U.S. Border Patrol says 43 people from Cuba, who the agency says are migrants, arrived on the vessel. U.S. Border Patrol

More than 40 people from Cuba arrived on a Florida Keys beach in a migrant boat early Tuesday morning, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

The 43 people made landfall in a wooden fishing boat with a pilot house, that had the name “Habana” painted on its stern, according to a statement and photograph of the vessel released on X, formerly Twitter.

The boat came to shore on Sombrero Beach, which is located in the Middle Keys city of Marathon. According to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office calls for service records, the landing happened around 12:30 a.m.

Adam Hoffner, assistant chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol’s Miami sector, told the Herald that six of the passengers, including two children, were taken to a hospital for evaluation.

They have since been medically cleared and released, Hoffner said.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

This story was originally published September 17, 2024 at 9:09 AM.

David Goodhue
Miami Herald
David Goodhue covers the Florida Keys and South Florida for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald. Before joining the Herald, he covered Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware. 
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