PHOTO RELEASE: Coast Guard repatriates 36 Cuban migrants

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 7th District Southeast Contact: 7th District Public Affairs Office: 305-415-6683 After Hours: 786-367-7649 7th District online newsroom

Coast Guard repatriates 36 Cuban migrants

 

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MIAMI — The Coast Guard Cutter William Trump (WPC-1111) crew repatriated 36 Cuban migrants Sunday to Cabañas, Cuba.

Coast Guard 7th District watchstanders received a report of a possible migrant vessel heading northbound approximately 23 miles north of Havana, Cuba. Watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton (WPC-1108) crew and launched a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crew to the scene.

The airplane crew located the migrant vessel and the cutter Charles Sexton crew safely embarked the 29 Cuban males and eight Cuban females. A Coast Guard Station Key West 45-foot Response Boat—Medium boatcrew medevaced one migrant reportedly suffering from chest pains.

"Many times these vessels we interdicted are overloaded and unsafe and the risk simply isn't worth the possible reward," said Lt. Cmdr. James Hodges, a Coast Guard 7th District law enforcement duty officer. "The combined efforts of the Charles Sexton and William Trump cutter crews led to this successful rescue mission and I'm proud of everyone involved."

Once aboard Coast Guard cutters, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and medical attention.

Approximately 82 Cuban migrants have attempted to illegally migrate to the U.S. via the maritime environment since Oct. 1 compared to 296 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 Atlantic.

The cutter Charles Sexton is a 154-foot sentinel class cutter homeported in Key West, Florida. The cutter William Trump is a 154-foot sentinel class cutter homeported in Key West, Florida.

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