Havana/Last Monday, the United States Coast Guard deported 27 Cuban rafters who were intercepted in the Yucatan Channel. According to the statement released this Friday, the group – made up of women and men – was making the crossing in a wooden boat that “was taking on water, had no fuel and was in danger of sinking,” when the boat sent by the ship’s crew Raymond Evans located them.
The US authorities warned Cubans with a now common speech that “any person who attempts to enter the United States illegally by sea will be intercepted and repatriated to their country of origin.” The lieutenant commander and liaison officer of the US Coast Guard with Cuba, Luis García, stressed that there is surveillance in “all maritime access routes to the country to deter illegal migration.”
In addition, he said that “trying to migrate illegally aboard overloaded and poorly maintained vessels is extremely dangerous and puts lives at unnecessary risk.”
The Cubans were “processed to determine their identity and were also provided with food, water, shelter and basic medical care,” according to the official report, and returned to the Island aboard the coast guard. Winslow Griesser.
![The raft in which the Cubans were located by the boat sent by the crew of the ship 'Raymond Evans'.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 9"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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According to a report from Governor Ron DeSantis’ Administration sent to the local Congress and leaked to the press last February, Florida spent $573,000,000 from a fund intended for emergencies in the last three years on immigration operations. The money was channeled to the Operation Vigilant Sentry (Operation Vigilant Sentinel), a tactic that is applied through an executive order to activate federal forces and combat the illegal entry of migrants and drug trafficking on US coasts.
“80% of drug interceptions destined for the United States are carried out on the high seas,” recalled the Coast Guard while reiterating that the importance of “detecting and intercepting illicit drug traffickers on the high seas requires significant inter-institutional and international coordination.”
The deportation of rafters is added to that of 96 Cubans –78 men and 18 women – who were returned this Thursday through the United States on a flight that arrived at the José Martí International Airport in Havana.
With this deportation flight, the number of Cuban migrants returned to the Island during the first six months of 2026 rises to 740, in 25 returns organized from different countries in the region, according to official figures.
