Cuban migrants found on Garden Key

Posted on Fri, May. 19, 2006

Cuban migrants found on Garden Key
By MIAMI HERALD STAFF
dadenews@MiamiHerald.com

Sixteen Cuban nationals were found stranded on Garden Key, part of a
cluster of islands making up the Dry Tortugas National Park about 70
miles west of Key West.

The U.S. Coast Guard received a call about the migrants at 7 a.m. Friday.

Twelve adult males and four adult females are believed to have been
dropped off on the island by smugglers operating from Collier or Lee
counties, the U.S. Border Patrol said.

The migrants were awaiting a ferry to Key West, where they were to be
processed by the. Border Patrol and held until they apply for asylum
under the Cuban Adjustment Act.

Under the so-called wetfoot-dryfoot policy, Cuban nationals who reach
U.S. soil generally are allowed to stay. Those intercepted at sea are
usually returned to Cuba.

Officials with the Border Patrol said they believe the smugglers
themselves notified authorities of the migrants' whereabouts, a common
practice among those who illegally transport Cuban nationals to the
United States.

The Coast Guard was on the lookout for suspicious vessels traveling from
the Tortugas toward southwest Florida or docked at marinas along the
southwest coast.

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/14622503.htm