MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard has stopped at sea more than 3,000 Cuban migrants fleeing deteriorating economic, safety and political conditions in the island nation who were heading to the coast of Florida since October — more than the last five fiscal years combined, according to the agency.
The staggering figure comes as the Coast Guard announced it returned 64 migrants to Cuba on Sunday after locating them in four separate boats off the Florida Keys in less than 48 hours.
A Coast Guard crew spotted a “rustic vessel” at 9 p.m. Thursday 25 miles south of Key West. Two and a half hours later, the same crew detected another boat in similar conditions 30 miles south of Key West.
