Coast Guard returns 172 Cubans Dominicans to homelands

Coast Guard returns 172 Cubans, Dominicans to homelands

March 30, 2006, 2:45 PM EST

MIAMI - The Coast Guard repatriated 172 Cuban and Dominican migrants to
their homelands this week.

Of the Cubans repatriated, 28 were spotted and picked up by the cruise
ship Carnival Conquest 85 miles east of Grand Cayman on March 21. The
cutter Tornado met with the Carnival Conquest after the cruise ship's
port call in Galveston, Texas, and transferred the migrants to the cutter.

On Saturday, a Coast Guard aircraft crew from Clearwaterand the cutter
Vigilant located 26 missing Cuban migrants and one suspected smuggler in
a 33-foot vessel about 30 miles northeast of Havana, Cuba. They were
repatriated today.

The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Venturous also repatriated 88
Dominican migrants to La Romana, Dominican Republic, on Thursday. Of the
88 repatriated, the Coast Guard interdicted three seperate groups, the
largest being 50 migrants, about 10 miles southwest of Mona Island,
Puerto Rico.

Once on board Coast Guard cutters, all migrants receive food, water and
any necessary medical care.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-330repatriate,0,5290440.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines