More than a thousand Cuban migrants were brought back to the island from different countries within 13 days, the island’s authorities reported this Saturday.
In total, the United States, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands have returned 1,115 irregular migrants to Cuba, the Interior Ministry (MININT) said in a press release.
The United States tops the list with 970 returns, followed by the Bahamas with 129 and the Cayman Islands with 16. According to MININT, people returned in these first few days of the year account for 9 percent of total returns in 2022.
Last Sunday, January 8, the largest repatriation by the US Coast Guard in recent years took place, with 273 people, the Cuban authorities stressed.
Despite repeated warnings from authorities that they will be repatriated, a wave of rafters continues to arrive on US shores.
the US Coast Guard (USCG) reported Friday that between Jan. 6 and Jan. 13, 824 Cubans were repatriated to the island after being arrested while attempting to reach US soil by sea.
On the same day, the White House said the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection are deploying additional personnel and resources to the state of Florida to expeditiously process irregular migrants who arrived by sea and include them in a deportation process.
So far this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, about 5,000 Cubans have been intercepted by the US Coast Guard. According to USCG reports, a total of 6,182 rafters were arrested in the last fiscal year attempting to immigrate to the United States illegally.
The Cubans have sought other escape routes from the island. A total of 224,607 arrived at the southern U.S. border in fiscal year 2022, which ended Sept. 30, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency.
President Joe Biden’s administration has taken a number of measures to control illegal emigration at its borders, including a humanitarian parole program that allows Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and Haitians with a sponsor to enter and reside legally in the United States US land permits for two years with the possibility of obtaining a work permit.