7 Mile Bridge Cubans To get Immigration Papers

Mar 20, 2006 1:26 pm US/Eastern
'7 Mile Bridge' Cubans To get Immigration Papers

(CBS4 News) MIAMI The Cubans denied entry to the US because they landed
on a pier of the old 7-mile Bridge instead of on actual US soil are on
step closer to returning to the land the were trying to reach. A federal
judge has approved an agreement granting the 14 Cuban migrants entry
into the United States.

The 14 Cubans, all of whom were repatriated to their homeland after
decisions by the US Coast Guard and US Immigration officials, will be
given proper immigration papers within ten days of the judge's approval
of the agreement.

In return, the US government will drop its planned appeal of the judge's
ruling that the Cubans had legitimately reached American shores at the
bridge and that they had been illegally returned to Cuba.

The agreement also requires that the judge vacate his previous order
against the U-S government, removing a potential legal precedent for
lawyers to use against federal officials in future Cuban immigration
controversies.

There are still no guarantees that Cuba will let the group leave the island.

The Cubans thought they reached their destination in January when their
boat landed at an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys. Federal lawyers
had argued that the bridge did not count as dry land because sections of
the bridge are missing and it no longer connects to U-S soil.

The U-S "wet foot/dry foot" policy calls for most Cubans who reach U-S
soil to be allowed to stay, while those intercepted at sea are generally
returned to Cuba.

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