MIAMI — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Diamondback repatriated 12 Cuban migrants to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba, Thursday.
The 12 adult males were interdicted at sea during two separate cases since Sunday.
On Monday, personnel from Coast Guard Sector Key West, Fla., received a report from a good Samaritan of a rustic vessel with eight Cuban migrants in the Florida Straits. A Coast Guard Station Marathon boatcrew interdicted the migrants and transferred them to the Coast Guard Cutter Key Biscayne. The eight migrants were later transferred to the cutter Diamondback for repatriation.
On Sunday, while on patrol, a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircrew located a rustic vessel with four Cuban migrants in the Florida Straits. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Kodiak Island arrived on scene and embarked the migrants without incident. The four migrants were later transferred to the cutter Diamondback for repatriation.
Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, migrants are provided food, water, shelter and basic medical care.
The cutter Diamondback is an 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Miami Beach, Fla.
The cutters Key Biscayne and Kodiak Island are 110-foot patrol boats homeported in Key West.
For information on how to legally immigrate to the United States, call U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at 1-800-375-5283 or visit the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov.
