Coast Guard Interdicts 27 Cuban Migrants 5 Miles South of Key West

MIAMI —
The U.S. Coast Guard interdicted 27 Cuban migrants on July 27 about 5 miles
south of Key West, the Coast Guard’s 7th District said in a release.

A Coast
Guard Station Key West 45-foot response boat crew interdicted an 18-foot
migrant chug with 27 Cuban migrants — 22 males, four females and one child — aboard.
The crew safely embarked all 27 migrants aboard the station boat.

“These
illegal ventures attempting to immigrate to the United States are extremely
dangerous, especially during the hurricane season, when weather and sea
conditions can dramatically and rapidly change in minutes, putting migrants in
danger of being lost at sea,” said Capt. Jason Ryan, chief of the enforcement
branch of the Coast Guard 7th District.

“The Coast
Guard and our partner agencies’ priority is safety of life at sea and these
voyages in ill-equipped vessels aren’t safe. The Coast Guard and our partner
agencies maintain their focused and coordinated efforts to interdict and stop
these unlawful migration attempts into the United States.”

The
watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Key West were notified by a good Samaritan
vessel of a possible migrant vessel. The watchstanders directed the launch of a
Station Key West RB-M boat crew and diverted the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter
Kathleen Moore (WPC-1109) to assist.

The
station crew rendezvoused with the cutter Kathleen Moore and safely transferred
the migrants to the cutter.

A total of
438 Cuban migrants have attempted to illegally enter the U.S. by sea in fiscal
year 2019 compared to 384 Cuban migrants in fiscal year 2018. These numbers
represent the total number of at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in
the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and the Atlantic.