6 Cuban migrants arrive ashore Lantana Beach

6 Cuban migrants arrive ashore Lantana Beach
U.S. Coast Guard expects more migrants to make journey to South Florida
over the holidays
Author: Amanda Batchelor, Senior Digital Editor, abatchelor@wplg.com
Todd Tongen, Reporter, Anchor, ttongen@Local10.com
Published On: Oct 31 2014 05:52:28 PM EDT

LANTANA BEACH, Fla. -
Six Cuban migrants are the latest of dozens more that made the journey
across the Florida Straits this week.

The group's small makeshift boat washed ashore just south of Lantana
Beach in Palm Beach County Friday morning.

On Monday, nine Cubans were rescued from the waters of Biscayne Bay. Two
others made it to land and another two remain lost at sea.

The next day, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued another 33 Cuban migrants off
the coast of Boca Raton.

A wooden boat was seen abandoned in the water. Another boat was upside
down in the water.

The Coast Guard spotted the group while searching for the two missing
migrants from Monday. That search has since been suspended after the
Coast Guard searched about 3,100 miles for the men.

Lt. Cmdr. Gabe Somma called the boat "grossly overloaded."

Many of the migrants jumped out of the boat while waiting to be rescued.

Somma said he believes all the migrants have been accounted for in that
case.

"The aircraft that fly have pretty good sensors on board so they can
detect very small things," said Capt. Mark Fedor, chief of response for
the Coast Guard's 7th District. "They can detect coconuts floating on
the water."

Conditions in Cuba are still difficult, and with no recent major storms
in the Florida Straights, more and more Cubans are risking their lives
to get here.

"We see a lot of repeat customers. Up to seven to nine times we will see
them come back," said Fedor.

Once on board the cutters, migrants are given a dry jumpsuit, a medical
evaluation and then fed twice a day. Often they sleep on mats on the
stern for up to three to five days before being repatriated.

For Cuban-American Coast Guard personnel, it can be difficult.

"I think it is a mission that is very personal to them," said Fedor.
"Especially if they are second generation. They might have relatives in
Cuba."

"Once they are part of the Coast Guard they see the value that we
provide in saving lives at sea," he added.

The migrants' vessels are destroyed because they are a hazard to
navigation, and with the number of migrants increasing each year
officials often have to coordinate their efforts.

"If we get too many people, too many migrants on a cutter, we will bring
another one in," said Fedor.

Coast guard officials said they don't see any reason as to why these
numbers should decline. In fact, they expect to see a spike over the
holidays. The prevailing theory is that Cubans think that there will be
fewer patrols over the holidays, but the Coast Guard said that is not true.

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