Posted on Mon, Jan. 14, 2008
BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com
Authorities have repatriated 16 of 17 Cubans abandoned by smugglers on a
sandbar off Key Biscayne on New Year's Day, the U.S. Coast Guard said
Monday.
Twelve Cubans swam ashore that morning -- but one man, Feisy
Rafael-Miranda, 28, was swept away and drowned.
At least three of the repatriated migrants are dissidents with Democracy
Movement, said Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the organization in Miami-Dade.
He criticized immigration authorities for not considering the dissidents
for asylum. He said that during interviews aboard the Coast Guard cutter
Reliance docked in Key West, they were not allowed to show
identification that showed their dissident status.
''This is another proof that the process of interviewing people aboard
the cutters is defective. It lacks minimal due process,'' Sanchez said.
The group of 30 migrants -- including six children -- were left on the
sandbar some 50 to 100 feet from shore.
The 12 who made it to land swam across a channel through a treacherous
current. Several of the now-repatriated men reached shore but swam back
to help women and children struggling on the sandbar.
Coast Guard and Miami-Dade fire-rescue boats saved the remaining 17
people. They were taken aboard the Reliance and interviewed by
investigators probing Rafael-Miranda's death, as well as immigration
officers considering them for asylum.
One man was not returned to Cuba and will be given another interview,
Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Dana Ward said.
The smuggling case and death are being investigated by U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement, along with Miami-Dade homicide detectives.
A fishing boat captain found Rafael-Miranda's body four days after the
incident near Stiltsville in Biscayne Bay.
Under the wet-foot/dry-foot policy, Cubans who arrive on American soil
are generally allowed to stay while those interdicted at sea are usually
sent back to the island country.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_dade/story/378830.html
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