Mexico Rescues 23 Cuban Migrants At Sea

Mexico Rescues 23 Cuban Migrants At Sea
By Brianna Lee @briannaclee b.lee@ibtimes.com on May 17 2015 9:39 PM EDT

A home-made aluminium boat carrying 16 Cuban migrants pulls up to a
dock, seeking what the migrants said was refuge from rough seas, in
Grand Cayman island, Aug. 28, 2014. Reuters/Peter Polack
Mexico's navy rescued two rafts of Cuban migrants who had been at sea
for several days, the maritime secretary said Sunday. Twenty-three
Cubans were taken in two operations, and given food and medical care,
Mexican authorities said.

In one operation, a Mexican vessel spotted a raft off the Yucatan
peninsula with 10 Cuban migrants on board, the navy said. The migrants
had reportedly left Cuba's Isla Juventud and had been floating for 16
days. Separately, another Mexican vessel found and rescued another raft
carrying 13 Cuban nationals.

The Mexican operation comes as the United States has been grappling with
a surge in Cuban migrants in recent months. Cuban migrants often come
into the United States through Mexico instead of trying to make a direct
trip to Florida by boat. According to the Customs and Border Protection
agency, 6,500 Cubans came into the United States without a visa through
the southwest border in the last three months of 2014, a 50 percent
increase from the same period a year earlier.

This week 38 Cuban migrants reportedly were intercepted by the U.S.
Coast Guard and left stranded on the Coast Guard ship while waiting for
the Cuban government to grant them permission to return. The migrants
had left Cuba with tourist visas for the island of Saint Lucia.

Under a policy known as "wet foot, dry foot," Cubans who make it onto
U.S. shores may enter the country and gain a fast track to permanent
residence in the United States. But those who are intercepted at sea are
turned back to Cuba. U.S. officials told the Associated Press Havana
refused re-entry for the 38 Cubans because their return violated a
U.S.-Cuba repatriation agreement.

The number of Cuban migrants trying to reach the U.S. has surged since
Washington and Havana announced bilateral talks to restart diplomatic
relations. The historic thaw, announced by President Obama and Cuban
President Raul Castro in December, has sparked rumors the "wet foot, dry
foot" policy could come to an end. U.S. officials have said there are no
plans to change the migration policy toward Cubans.

Source: Mexico Rescues 23 Cuban Migrants At Sea -
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