A group of migrants from Cuba who had been stuck in a legal limbo aboard a US Coast Guard ship after they were detained at sea are being allowed to return to their homeland, the Cuban government said on Saturday.
The 38 migrants were among nearly 100 detained by the coast guard last month and who would ordinarily have been quickly repatriated under an agreement between the US and Cuba intended to discourage risky sea journeys by people seeking to reach the US.
However, a US official said Cuban authorities had balked at accepting the 38 migrants, arguing that they did not qualify as migrants in transit who should be immediately repatriated because they had legally left their country and obtained tourist visas from the Caribbean nation of Saint Lucia. The migrants were held on board the coast guard cutter Vigilant until the situation could be resolved.
A statement issued on Saturday by the US Cuban Interests Section in Washington said that Cuba said it would allow the migrants to return, even though they do not qualify for repatriation under the terms of the 1995 agreement.
Cuba faulted US immigration policy, which allows migrants from Cuba to quickly become legal residents — and eventually citizens — if they make it to US soil, but turns back those caught at sea.
The policy prompts many to try to reach third countries and find alternate routes to avoid patrols.
The US should end this “preferential policy,” Havana said.
“It is the principal stimulus to illegal migration from Cuba to the US and to the irregular entries of Cubans to US territories through third countries, undermining the commitment made by both countries to promote legal, safe and orderly migration,” the statement said.
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