MIAMI — The creativity that goes into making many of the migrant boats that take Cubans on their dangerous journey across the Florida Straits reflects the desperation they feel to leave their homeland for a better life.
Many vessels are nothing more than Styrofoam stuffed into chicken wire shaped to make the hull of a boat. They’re often powered by nothing more than 4-stroke lawn mower engines, or propelled by sails made from bed sheets.
Three men last week upped the ante in terms of thinking outside the box when they set off from Cuba on what appears to be a pedal boat painted to look like a car — the type of boat common at resorts, meant to laze about on calm man-made lakes, not make its way across one of the world’s most treacherous maritime passages.
Petty Officer Nicole Groll, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, said Thursday that the boat serves as an example of why the agency has been urging would-be migrants for more than a year not to take to the sea.
“Families and friends, please encourage loved ones to seek a safe and legal path to the United States. Migrating illegally in vessels without life jackets or safety equipment raises the risk of losing your life at sea,” Groll said.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection airplane crew spotted the yellow boat last Saturday about 69 miles south of Key West, according to the Coast Guard.
The men aboard were among 77 Cuban migrants taken back to their country Wednesday aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Raymond Evans. All of the migrants were stopped at sea off the Keys during eight separate incidents in what turned out to be a busy weekend for the Coast Guard.
“Coast Guard crews maintain an active presence with air and sea assets every day through the Florida Straits to help save lives by removing people from unsafe environments,” Lt. Travis Poulos of Coast Guard District Seven said in a statement Wednesday. “Our crews help prevent people from losing their lives in these dangerous attempts.”
Since October, the Coast Guard has intercepted 3,369 people from Cuba at sea attempting to migrate to the United States, the highest number in seven years. The agency has simultaneously been faced with the largest exodus of people from Haiti in nearly three decades.
Residents from both countries are fleeing deteriorating economic and political conditions. Haitians are also escaping escalating gang violence.
With few exceptions, however, those caught either at sea or on land will be returned to their countries. Up until early 2017, Cubans who arrived on U.S. shores were able to stay in the country and apply for permanent residency after a year.
The policy was known as “wet foot, dry foot.” Those stopped at sea were returned to Cuba.
The Obama administration abruptly ended the program in January 2017 as part of its efforts to mend diplomatic relations with Cuba’s government.
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