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U.S. authorities reported at least 10 migrant landings in the Florida Keys, South Florida, on Tuesday, as the number of Cubans detained at sea by the Coast Guard reached nearly 400 since last Oct. 1 alone, an all-time high.
Last Friday, local media reported that migrant landings in the South Florida had increased by more than 200% since the beginning of this month, but this Wednesday the increase reached 450%, according to authorities.
According to WPLG, which covers South Florida, in one of the landings on Tuesday, among the 26 men aboard a small boat that made landfall near Key West, one of them was injured.
According to the digital media, another group arrived at a mobile home community in Marathon Key.
Federal forces used “a large bus” to transport the migrants to the Border Patrol (CBP) station in Marathon, he said.
Walter N. Slosar, head of CBP’s Miami Sector, issued a Twitter alert saying that “over the past 24 hours” his agents responded to 10 migrant landings in the Florida Keys.
Since last October 1, the beginning of the current fiscal year, agents have responded to 32 migrant arrivals with more than 450 arrests, Slosar said.
The Coast Guard highlighted the increase in the number of Cubans attempting to reach Florida’s coasts by reporting the repatriation last Sunday of 80 Cuban migrants.
Also since last October 1, the Coast Guard reported that its crews have intercepted 388 Cubans at sea before making landfall.
In the entire previous fiscal year, the number of Cubans intercepted at sea was 6,182.
“Choose a safe and legal path when coming to the U.S. so families are not wondering where their loved ones are when they choose to illegally migrate,” Petty Officer Nicole J. Groll, Seventh Coast Guard District, said in the statement.
