MIAMI — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Raymond Evans repatriated 36 Cuban migrants to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba Friday.
This repatriation is a result of four separate migrant interdictions at sea in a span of a week, beginning Aug. 1. The Cuban migrants were trying to illegally enter the United States on unseaworthy vessels commonly referred to as "rustics" or "chugs."
The Raymond Evans, along with numerous other Coast Guard patrol boats and aircraft, aggressively patrols the Florida Straits to detect and deter illegal and unsafe maritime migration.
Safety of life at sea is always the Coast Guard's top priority.
"Along with our Department of Homeland Security and international partners, the Coast Guard continues to robustly patrol the Florida Straits and Caribbean sea to prevent migrants from taking the perilous and illegal maritime journey to the United States. Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, we will seek to quickly repatriate illegal migrants to their respective countries," said Capt Mark Gordon, Chief of Response Enforcement for the Coast Guard 7th District.
Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter all migrants receive food, water, shelter, and basic medical attention.
Coast Guard assets involved in the four interdictions included:
- Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft.
- Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Florida C-130 aircraft.
- Coast Guard Cutter Charles David Jr., a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in Miami.
- Coast Guard Cutter Kathleen Moore, a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in Miami.
- Coast Guard Cutter Reliance, a 210-foot medium endurance cutter at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard homeported in Kittery, Maine.
Since Oct. 1, 2014, the Coast Guard 7th District estimates that 3,444 Cuban, 2,364 Haitians and 483 Dominicans have attempted to illegally migrate via the sea. These numbers represent the total amount of at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and Atlantic.
For more information on how to legally immigrate to the U.S., call U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at 1-800-375-5283 or visit the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov.
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