More than 500 Cuban immigrants have been repatriated to the island so far in 2024

So far in 2024, 500 Cuban immigrants have returned to Cuba after this Friday's flight from the Bahamas, with 26 rafters from provinces as diverse as Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus and Siego de Ávila.

According to Report Ministry of Home Affairs (MIND) “AndBahamas officials returned to Cuba this Friday 26 irregular migrants (21 men and five women) live in the provinces of Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus and Chico de Ávila. 34 people from different countries in the region with 505 people in 2024.”

So far this year, a total of 34 repatriation operations have been carried out, consolidating an upward trend in these types of operations. Most of these returns come from the United States, which in the past week alone has handed over three groups of irregular migrants to Cuban authorities.

Two of these groups were intercepted on the high seas North American Coast Guard, arrived at the island by the third flight. Many of these returned Cuban rafters have pending accounts with the Cuban justice system and are incarcerated after violating parole or being wanted for pending prosecution.

Cuba: More than 500 Cuban immigrants return

In recent months, among these more than 500 Cuban immigrants, there have been cases of desperation to return to the island, which we have echoed in our pages. This is an entire family deported to Cuba despite having I-220A documents. The family arrived in the US in November 2021 and their asylum claim was rejected.

However, they were allowed to remain on probation while awaiting a hearing in immigration court.

A misunderstanding in scheduling an ICE interview led to the family's deportation. The family attorney filed a motion to rehear the case, but it was denied. An appeal is pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

They are now asking Cuba to immediately reconsider their case and ask them to return to the United States.