Cuban_migrants While more Cuban migrants are being interdicted at sea,
more are also eluding the U.S. Coast Guard and making it ashore.
Since Oct. 1, at least 1,580 Cuban migrants have landed in South Florida
– almost half the number that arrived the previous fiscal year that ran
from Oct. 1, 2006 to Sept. 30, 2007.
That's also more than the number of Cuban migrants stopped at sea by the
Coast Guard between Oct. 1 and Tuesday: 1,187.
Both the landings and the interdictions are a reflection of the
increasing number of Cubans leaving the island since Fidel Castro took
ill in July 2006.
Overall, the total number of Cubans who left the island headed for the
United States in fiscal year 2005 amounted to 14,236. That number rose
to 19,710 in fiscal year 2007.
These figures consist of Cubans who leave the island but are intercepted
and largely repatriated by the Coast Guard, those who make it ashore and
those who arrive at airports and the border and seek to stay under the
wet foot/dry foot policy.
Under that policy, Cubans who are stopped at sea are generally returned
to the island, or taken to Guantanamo for possible resettlement in a
third country; and those who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay.
Figures for the unfolding 2008 fiscal year that began Oct. 1 show that
the Cuban migrant flow continues.
At least 8,457 Cubans left the island from Oct. 1 to Tuesday, with only
1,187 being stopped at sea, according to figures compiled by the U.S.
Coast Guard, the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
With still nine months left in the year, the number of Cuban migrants is
expected to grow – although it's still unclear if the figure this fiscal
year will exceed last year's.
For a breakdown on Cuban migrant departures, see this chart:
Download cuban_migrant_figures.doc
-- Alfonso Chardy
March 25, 2008 in Emmigration | Permalink
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2008/03/cuban-migrant-1.html
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