On Tuesday, the U.S. government deported two irregular migrants to communist Cuba, contributing to a total of 4,264 deportations by U.S. authorities in 2023, according to information released by the Ministry of Interior (Minint).
In 2023, the Cuban dictatorship also received deported migrants from the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, and Mexico. Data from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveals that the number of Cubans crossing the southern border increased from 38,139 in fiscal year 2021 to 220,321 in 2022, and over 110,000 in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
The two Cuban citizens, handed over by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to Cuban authorities at the Orozco port in the western province of Artemisa, had escaped the country illegally, as stated in the press release.
This marks the 102nd operation for the deportation of Cuban migrants conducted this year from the U.S., encompassing both air and sea routes.
Cuban authorities claim they are committed to "safe and orderly migration" and emphasized the "danger and life-threatening conditions" associated with illegal departures from the country by sea, despite previous reports that the Cuban regime played a role and profited from a shell of companies selling airfare tickets for Cubans illegally crossings through Nicaragua.
Additionally, since last November, the deportation of Cubans by air has also been resumed. Both countries agreed to restart deportation flights for "inadmissible" individuals detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. The deportation of "inadmissible" individuals seeking freedom from the longest dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere was agreed upon in 2017 but was suspended in December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and cooling bilateral relations following the "thaw" period.
In the current fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2022, nearly 7,000 Cubans have been intercepted by the USCG while attempting journeys to the Florida coast. Cuba and the U.S. have a bilateral agreement stipulating that all migrants arriving by sea are to be returned to the island.
Related Story: Cubans Protest Communist Party Headquarters, Shouting “We Want Freedom!”
