US Coast Guard Returns 48 Illegal Cuban Migrants

Havana, Aug 23 (ACN) Some 48 illegal Cuban migrants in eight different attempts to reach the US coast by sea were returned to the island on August 9 and 18 by the US Coast Guard.

However, two of the illegal migrants were not returned, which is considered a violation of bilateral migration accords signed by Washington and Havana, according to a public release by the Cuban Interior Ministry.

Seven of the attempts were detected and informed on real time to the US Coast Guard Service by the Cuban border patrol forces, while another six events required persuasive and accompanying actions till the limits of Cuban territorial waters.

One of those illegal attempts was backed by a speedboat coming from US territory to a site on the northern coast of the province of Villa Clara, the Interior Ministry explains.

Following the established sanitary protocols, the individuals were taken to an immigration center to follow all the epidemiological proceedings established for anybody who enters the country, which include a PCR test and the stay in an isolation center for a given period of time.
With the latest group of illegal migrants, the number of people returned by the US authorities was calculated at 523 this year.