A group of29 rafters who arrived in Marquesas Keys at the beginning of January have been released from the Krome Processing Center and are temporarily living in a church in the city ofHialeah.
The Cubans - belonging to a Christian congregation - spent five months building a rustic boat and took to the sea from Eastern Havana in the last days of 2023 and spent the night of December 31 on the high seas, according to what they told journalist Eduardo " Yusnaby” Pérez forTelemundo 51.
The group of migrants was actually 30 people,one of them a baby barely six months old, granddaughter of one of the rafters. Although the minor still remains in the custody of the US authorities, her grandfather can see her through video calls.
They say that the shepherd was the guide of the journey. They made a very good trip and arrived at the coast of the keys without any major setbacks.
"We thank God that everything was a very good journey"said Raidel Castillo, the minor's grandfather.
Once they arrived on US territory, the Cubans surrendered to the Border Patrol and were detained in Krome, in Broward County, from where they were released recently with a “parole” that will facilitate them, starting a year and one day take advantage of the Cuban Adjustment Law.
“The Cuban cannot feel free in his country of birth”, stated Pastor Fernando Meirelles, who is grateful for the good treatment they have received at all times in the United States despite having arrived illegally.
“We know that we entered illegally, that we have committed a crime, but they have never called our attention, nor have they humiliated us, they treat us well…they give you good food, they take care of you,” he praised.
“Even on the street we are going to live better than in Cuba,” Meirelles said. “Prisoned here is better than being released in Cuba,” he added in reference to the time they were detained.
“My dream is that at the age I am, I am going to start a new life,” said another of the Cubans interviewed.
The migrants have already obtained Medicaid and are waiting for a work permit.
The aforementioned media did not specify the name of the Christian congregation to which the Cuban rafters belong.
It was on January 3 that Samuel Briggs II, head of the Miami Sector of the US Border Patrol, indicated that a group of 30 migrants had been detained after making landfall in the Marquesas Keys, uninhabited islands west of Key West.
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