Cuban, Haitian migrants returned to islands
Posted on Sun, Dec. 30, 2007
Thirty Cuban migrants were repatriated, while 34 Haitian migrants were
returned to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday, according to Coast Guard
officials.
The Cuban migrants were apprehended in two separate operations. The
first occurred Dec. 21 when a Coast Guard aircraft spotted a rustic
vessel carrying 20 Cuban migrants about 40 miles north of Havana. Two of
the 20 migrants were later transferred to Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officials in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The second group of Cuban migrants was apprehended after search and
rescue crews located a makeshift vessel near Big Pine Key, where 12 were
taken into custody.
The 32 Haitian migrants were spotted last Sunday in the Florida Straits
about 40 miles east of Fort Pierce in a disabled 21-foot boat. The
migrants told authorities they had not had food or water for five days.
Two suspected migrant smugglers, whose names were not disclosed, were
taken to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Miami.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/361199.html