MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard returned 223 U.S.-bound migrants back to Haiti and Cuba on Tuesday after detaining eight migrant boats at sea during the Memorial Day weekend.
The vessels were stopped between Friday afternoon and Sunday off the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and Haiti as U.S. authorities report the largest exodus of Haitian boat refugees since 2004 and of Cuban “balseros” since 2016.
The worrying surge of Haitians and Cubans trying to get to the U.S. is expected to be discussed next week when hemispheric leaders meet in Los Angeles on June 6 during the Summit of the Americas. The event is being hosted by the U.S. for the first time since it was launched in Miami in 1994
