50 Cuban migrants in custody after three landings in Florida Keys
MIAMI - In a seemingly endless stream, more migrants have shown up on South Florida and the Florida Keys shores.
On Friday, US Border Patrol's Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar posted on Twitter that in the last 24 hours, there had been three landings in the Keys involving 50 Cuban migrants. Two of the landings happened on Long Key, the other occurred in the Marquesas Keys.
On Thursday, nearly 70 Haitian migrants arrived at Virginia Key. A group of about two dozen jumped from the boat and made it to shore while the others remained in the vessel and waited for the Coast Guard.
Increasing numbers of Cuban and Haitian migrants have made the risky Florida Straits crossing in recent months to illegally enter the Keys Island chain and other parts of the state as inflation soars and economic conditions deteriorate in their home countries.
The spike among Cubans has been especially pronounced. Since Oct. 1, 2022, the Coast Guard has interdicted more than 4,900 Cuban migrants at sea, as compared with more than 6,100 Cubans intercepted during all of fiscal 2022, which ended Sept. 30, according to the news release.
The latest returns and landings came just after President Joe Biden's administration began a new policy to start turning back Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans at the Texas border, along with Venezuelans, who arrive illegally.
The administration also is offering humanitarian parole for up to 30,000 people a month from those four countries if they apply online, pay their airfare, and find a financial sponsor.
Migrants who arrive illegally and don't immediately return home will become ineligible for the new parole. U.S. officials are hoping this will deter sea arrivals by offering a safer alternative and a pathway to residency.
The U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba recently resumed processing migrant visas and said Wednesday that some initial Cuban applicants already had been accepted under the new parole. In the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, would-be applicants have flocked to an immigration office in recent days to apply for passports needed for the U.S. program.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Mark Cobb said in a statement that with the new legal pathways available for migrants "we urge all people to use the safe and legal means available to travel to the United States. Don't put your life at risk by taking to the sea when you don't have to."
