Thread: FL-Cuban migrants returned to island

Updated: 1:46 p.m.

Cuban migrants returned to island
By Mike Clary
1:46 PM EDT, June 14, 2009

MIAMI - Fourteen Cuban migrants, including nine who were apprehended at sea after the U.S. Coast Guard fired at a suspected smuggler's boat, were returned to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba, today.

The suspected smuggler, taken into custody Thursday about 70 miles south of the Dry Tortugas, was being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Key West.

The eight passengers on his vessel, along with six others picked up Tuesday about 47 miles southeast of Key West, were taken back to Cuba aboard the cutter Cormorant, said Coast Guard officials.

In the Thursday incident, Coast Guard officials said that the suspected smuggler and his passengers were picked up only after the vessel was intercepted by a patrol boat from Key West and "the crew used warning shots and disabling fire to bring the vessel to a haltÂ…"

"The Coast Guard continues to aggressively enforce U.S. policy with regard to illegal migration," Lt. Eric Pare, a Seventh Coast Guard District command duty officer, said in a statrement. "Attempting to smuggle undocumented migrants by sea is not only illegal but also dangerous."

Under the so-called "wet-foot, dry-foot" immigration policy, Cubans picked up at sea are sent back to the island. Those Cubans who set foot on land anywhere in the United States are generally allowed to remain.

Once aboard Coast Guard cutters, migrants are provided with food, water, shelter and necessary medical attention.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 0258.story

Under the so-called "wet-foot, dry-foot" immigration policy, Cubans picked up at sea are sent back to the island. Those Cubans who set foot on land anywhere in the United States are generally allowed to remain.

Another one of our federal governments common sense policies.

I am sick and tired of hearing how when the Cubans make land they can stay. The government also knows that they are being smuggled in and they allow it. In fact it has been years since you see them with a raft of any type. They arrive meet with relative and then get taken to the beach somewhere and make it look like they just came. You only need to look at the pictures of the people and most of the time they are clean, decently dressed and some of the women even have manicures. We have been screaming for them to end the wetfoot dryfoot policy for a whlie in South Florida. They are costing us too much money. Most people aren't aware of it but relatives have section 8 and foodstamps ready for them before they even arrive.

One of the bits of insanity relating to our immigration policies is the ire produced when Cubans cross the Mexican border into the states. Since they clearly have dry feet, they simply to to waiting vans, busses or private autos to be driven to wherever, generally Florida, at their pampered leisure.

This leaves the illegals from Mexico and other places seething about the unfairness of it all, usually as they are being caught and deported.

Welcome TripleNickel. And you are right about the Cubans crossing from Mexico.
Personally I really don't give a crap about what other non-Cubans are seething about. I am seething about all of them that come here illegally, and will not differentiate between illegals from precious Latino countries or some poor illegal from Azerbaijan.

Actually they do not use Mexico as much as they used to. The Mexicans would find smugglers and rob them and some smugglers were even killed. The Cubans would then be rounded up by the Mexican government and deported back to Cuba. They are what I would call land pirates. There were smugglers from Florida that were killed by the Mexicans and the only way I know is from the small articles in the middle of the newspaper as they never put it in the headlines.