Cuban migrants land on Miami Beach shore

Posted: Apr 25, 2016 7:32 AM PDT Updated: Apr 26, 2016 9:32 AM PDT




DORAL, Fla. (WSVN) -- A group of Cuban migrants safely made landfall on Miami Beach near First Street Beach, Monday morning.

According to Miami Beach Police, six adult men arrived on the shore on a boat, which landed on the jetty near South Pointe.

Witness Vanessa Rivera said she was walking her dog when saw a green boat approach the shoreline, so she started recording the scene.

"'Oh, my God, what's going on?'" she said she thought to herself as she assessed the men coming to the shore. "'Are they coming from Cuba? Let me just video tape just in case.' And then, I'm like, 'Oh, yeah, definitely. They're coming from Cuba.'"

Moments later, Rivera captured the migrants getting out of the small vessel and taking their first steps on American soil. As the men approached her, she is heard telling them in Spanish, "Hello, how are you? Welcome."

Beachgoers witnessed the men kiss the sand they landed on and rejoice upon their arrival on U.S. ground. "It was so great. I mean, they were so happy to touch land," said Rivera.

"I'm doing well. I'm doing really well to find myself on this beautiful beach," one of the migrants said in Spanish.

The migrants told 7News they were hungry and thirsty. Rivera said she let one of them use her cellphone to call his family and tell them he was OK. "Later on, he was so appreciative he came back and he gave me a couple of 20s here from Cuba, maybe to cover the call," she said as she showed 7News the Cuban pesos.

After being out at sea for 11 days, the migrants were in good heath, said police. "We are all doing well," said one of the men, speaking in Spanish.

"We were at sea for 11 days. There's six of us.

We're all friends. We're here looking for the American dream."

This migrant added that they experienced rough seas before arriving in Florida. "We almost died.

The waves were very high," he said. It wasn't easy, but we're here."

They told a witness that at one point, they had to swap boats at sea, and that a group of other migrants gave them water. "[We were] having a hard time, trying to survive second by second and minute by minute," one of the migrants told 7News through a translator. "We're hoping to have the opportunity to help our families back in Cuba."

On board the vessel were a diesel engine, clothes, water and even a first-aid kit. Family members later told 7News they believe the migrants made a stop in the Bahamas during their journey.

Miami Beach police transported the men over to the Miami Beach Police station. U.S. Customs and Border Control met them there and took them to the Border Patrol station in Dania Beach to begin processing them.

At the Church World Center in Doral, family members anxiously awaited the migrants' arrival after they are processed. "It's been 25 years since I don't see him, and I grew up with him.

We're his family," said a woman related to one of the migrants as she fought back tears.

Hours later, 7News cameras captured the emotional reunion between the migrants and their loved ones. The men hugged relatives they hadn't seen in decades as they prepared for their new life in the U.S.

Some of the relatives did not know whether the men had even survived the journey. "Very happy, because it's good," said another relative.

Digna Mirabal, a relative of one of the migrants, could not contain her joy as she embraced and kissed him. "[I'm] excited. It feels good, it feels good," she said."

http://www.wsvn.com/story/31807822/c...mi-beach-shore