US deploys Coast Guard to contain migrants arriving in Florida

The United States government announced the deployment of the Coast Guard to deal with the arrival of hundreds of Cubans and Haitians on the coast of Florida, with the aim of reaching US soil.

The authorities intercept “the people who make this dangerous journey and return them to Cuba or to another country, depending on the circumstances. Do not throw yourself into the sea, we have already seen too much misfortune,” explained the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS, for its acronym in English), Alejandro Mayorkas,in interview with the voice of america.

Specifically, the Coast Guard Thursday took more than 300 Cuban migrants of a national park located on isolated islands off the coast of Florida.

DHS authorities reported that the Coast Guard transferred 337 immigrants from Dry Tortugas National Park on a 113-kilometer trip to Key West, where they will be processed.

They were part of the more than 700 immigrants, mostly Cubans, who they came to Florida on boats over New Year’s weekend, prompting Florida authorities to call on the federal government to do more to deter illegal immigrants.

Thursday, the Biden administration announced a tougher stance against immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, while offering a new way for citizens of those countries to emigrate legally.

Asked if they expect an increase in the number of people arriving by sea from Haiti and Cuba after this announcement, Mayorkas stated that it is a situation that they are “watching very closely.”

“It would be a serious mistake for people to do it. They will not succeed,” while also stating that they are also providing legal avenues at their disposal.

More than 4,400 Cubans and Haitians have arrived in Florida since August, in a context of increasingly serious political and economic crisis in both countries. Nearly 8,000 were detained at sea and returned to their home countries, which is about 50 per day, compared with an average of 17 per day in the previous fiscal year and two per day during the fiscal year. 2020-2021.

Authorities said at least 65 migrants have died since August. trying to make the dangerous journey in boats almost always in poor condition.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson said in a statement Wednesday that despite the surge, “the southeast maritime border is not open.” He called on Cuban-Americans and Haitian-Americans “to discourage their relatives in Cuba or Haiti from undertaking the dangerous, and often deadly, journey.”

[Con información de AP]

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