Havana, Feb. 1 (EFE). — The United States, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands have returned 108 illegal immigrants to Cuba, bringing the total number of returns from those countries and Mexico to 1,901 so far this year, Interior Ministry (Minent).
Among the new group of immigrants, 50 were intercepted at sea by the US Coast Guard when they were trying to reach this country illegally, according to a press release from MININT.
The rest arrived on air operations from the Bahamas (38) and the Cayman Islands (20).
According to the Cuban authorities, most of the immigrants reside in the provinces of Matanzas (west), Villa Clara, Ciego de Avila, and Camaguey (center).
“Out of the total number of returnees in these operations, four were transferred to the investigation authorities for committing serious criminal acts that are being investigated since before their illegal departure,” the report said.
He adds that there have been 23 return operations that have been carried out so far this year.
Cuba stresses that it maintains its commitment to “regular, safe and orderly migration” and insists on “the seriousness and conditions of life represented by illegal departure from the country by sea”.
At its southern border, the United States has seen record numbers of migrants trying to cross irregularly, motivated mostly by a new, unprecedented exodus from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
In the case of Cuba, a total of 224,607 citizens arrived at the southern border of the United States in fiscal year 2022 — between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022 —, according to that country’s office of Customs and Border Protection.
Likewise, as of last October 1, the date the current fiscal year began, 3,370 Cubans had been arrested in the Straits of Florida.
At the beginning of this year, the US government implemented a policy of receiving 30,000 immigrants per month from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua.
In parallel, it will immediately expel immigrants from those countries who attempt to cross into their territory irregularly into Mexico.
Mexico, for its part, has agreed to accept 30,000 immigrants per month who are expelled from US soil. EFE
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