Walter N. Slosar, chief of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Miami, reported that this agency with the help of law enforcement partners responded to ten landings of immigrants in the Keys and arrested 187 Cubans.
CBP
More than 100 Cuban immigrants were detained over the past two days by Miami Sector Border Patrol agents after they landed in the Florida Keys.
Walter N. Slosar, chief of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Miami, reported that this agency with the help of law enforcement partners responded to ten landings of immigrants in the Keys and arrested 187 Cubans.
Slosar said on his Twitter account on Saturday that “over the past 24 hours, Miami Sector Border Patrol Agents along with the support of @CBPAMORegDirSE (CBP Southeast Region) and partners responded to five migrant landings in the Keys. Florida and arrested 78 Cuban immigrants.”
He then updated the information on Sunday to give the total number of the 187 Cuban immigrants and the ten landings.
Among the detainees is a group of 51 immigrants from Cuba who arrived in the same area this Sunday.
The Coast Guard has intercepted 3,963 Cubans since October 1 of last year, compared to 838 for the entire fiscal year 2021.
Cubans are fleeing repression and the economic crisis in their country and now they are also crossing the southern border of the United States in greater numbers.
The Coast Guard said they repatriated 36 Cubans last Tuesday who were intercepted off the coast of Florida.
Capt. Robert Kinsey of the 7th Coast Guard District said that during 2022 “our forces have significantly increased our patrols with the intent of finding people in distress and rescuing migrants from dangerous and extremely overloaded vessels.
“As of October 1, 2021, there are 61 empty seats at family dinners because people made the decision or were convinced by smugglers to go to sea in these types of vessels,” he said in a statement.
This story was originally published on August 14, 2022 4:52 pm.