Cuban rafters also run into the US border

After a dangerous journey of ninety miles by sea, the Cuban rafters who reach the coast of Florida stumble upon the decision and warning of the United States Coast Guard: there are no open borders.

“That people do not throw themselves into the sea in these feats to enter illegally because the same way, if the Coast Guard intercepts them, they will be rescued and repatriated,” he told the voice of america Hansel Pintos, who serves as a spokesman for the US Coast Guard.

Since the weekend, 460 Cubans have been deported after arriving in the territory of the southern state of Florida irregularly aboard rafts, according to the Coast Guard.

Last Thursday, January 5, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, reported on an immigration measure that, for humanitarian reasons, it would allow entry to Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans, as he had already been doing with the Venezuelans. But the law is clear for those who try to enter illegally.

“Entering illegally, if they plan to do so, will affect them negatively,” Pinto alerts in an interview with the VOA.

Miami organizations that support the arrival of Cubans in Florida estimate that the migration of citizens from the Caribbean island will continue, in any case, due to “the anguish and despair of the Cuban people in the face of political repression and the oppression of the communism,” said Orlando Gutiérrez, director of the Cuban Democratic Directorate.

It is the political situation on the island that leads to such a path, Gutiérrez commented. “Then the Cubans repress the protests, they don’t see a clear message from the free world and what they have left is the way out.”

According to the Coast Guard, during fiscal year 2022, 6,182 migrants from Cuba were found in Florida waters.

Republicans demand answers

Republican opponents have criticized immigration policy of the Government since President Joe Biden arrived at the White House, whom they accuse of maintaining a policy of “open borders”.

This Tuesday the Republican senators from Florida, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott issued two messages through some tweets where they reported on their exchanges with senior Coast Guard officials and local authorities.

“I was in Monroe County, Florida today to meet with federal, state and local officials to discuss the response to the recent surge in immigrants arriving from Cuba and Haiti,” Cuban-American Senator Rubio wrote.

In several images, Rubio can be seen together with the staff of the office of Republican representative Carlos Gimenez in the aircraft in which they flew to Key West, in the southern tip of Florida.

For his part, also Senator Rick Scott reported who had a phone conversation with Coast Guard Admiral Linda Fagan and Sheriff Rick Ramsay. “We discussed the increase in immigrants in Key West. We ask for answers on how the Biden Administration will fix this and support local law enforcement.”

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