A Havana airport worker arrived at Miami International Airport early this Friday hidden in the hold of a plane, passengers on the flight and federal authorities confirmed.
The young Cuban was identified as Yunier García Duarte, 26 years old and resident in Santiago de las Vegas, and arrived on Swift Air flight 704 from the José Martí Airport in Havana.
Officers from the United States Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP) detained the young man who tried to evade detection by the authorities by hiding in the cargo area of the aircraft, according to an official statement sent to CyberCuba.
"CBP received reports of a possible stowaway shortly after midnight after a tarmac agent encountered the man while unloading luggage. He was denied entry and authorities processed the individual as a stowaway under Section 212. of the Immigration and Nationality Act [INA]," said Míchael Silva, CBP spokesperson in Miami.
The official added that "CBP agents remain vigilant in arresting individuals who attempt to evade detection in violation of federal law."
Silva did not specify other information about the detainee and whether he could be released in the next few hours, and insisted that he was denied entry into the country due to his status as a stowaway. Legally, the young Cuban will have to win a political asylum case to be able to remain in the United States.
"A stowaway can only legalize his immigration status in the United States if he wins his request for political asylum," the lawyer told CiberCuba.Willy Allen. "Even if he is granted parole, a Cuban cannot benefit from the Cuban Adjustment Act when he arrives as a stowaway on a plane or a ship."
In 2005, Allen defended and won asylum for the protagonist of a notorious case of arriving in the United States as a stowaway: the Cuban student Sandra de los Santos, who arrived from the Bahamas stuffed in a DHL shipping box.
Images of the arrest of the Cuban stowaway by federal agents this Friday were immediately broadcast in a video recorded by the plane's passengers and broadcast by local media.
According to statements from a Miami terminal employee toTelemundo 51 , authorities at the airport initially suspected that it was a dog, but later confirmed the presence of a young man wearing a uniform from the Cuban state company ECASA, the Cuban Company of Airports and Aeronautical Services that manages operations at 22 airports. of the island.
"We opened the door and when we got in we heard a noise (...) A voice shouted 'It's not a dog, it's me, it's me'. He was just saying that they should give him water, that he was scared that they would call his family," he said. the fountain.
The young man identifies himself on his Facebook profile as a worker at the José Martí International Airport in Havana and left a young daughter in Cuba.
In a video uploaded to social networks you can see how witnesses of the moment try to defend the young man from a man who speaks in English.
"What's wrong, he's not a police officer?" says a Cuban woman, who recommends the newcomer sit down.
In a recording of flight 704, shared byABC Local 10, the pilot reports to the Miami airport control tower that "apparently, someone came in the belly of our plane."
According to the specialized pageFlightAware, this flight arrived in Miami at 11:51 P.M. this Thursday.
"God continue to bless him and give him asylum, he deserves it, he is very brave", "my respect and admiration for that boy" or "God forbid they don't return him, it takes a lot of courage to do this", are some of the comments on social networks about the arrival of the young man.
The journalist ofTelemundo 51Eduardo Rodríguez, better known as Yusnaby Pérez, announced the news on his social networks.
The airline has not yet made any statements about the illegal entry of the young Cuban.
This type of departure from the country, very dangerous for the life of any person, is not the first time it has happened in Cuba. OnlyFour Cubans have survived clandestine escapes on airplanes in 60 years.
Aftereliminating the wet foot-dry foot policy, the escape valve for most Cubans is usuallythrough Central America until reaching the border of Mexico with the United States, where there are hundredsawaiting his interview with the authorities.
Figures for fiscal year 2019 indicate that until last July, a total of 18,040 Cubans had arrived at entry points on the border with Mexico, while another 443 have been intercepted by the Coast Guard in the Straits of Florida.
Since the incidents known as sonic attacks on American diplomats at the embassy in Havana, the United States has decreasedthe commitment made to issue 20,000 annual visas to Cuban citizens.
Cover photo: Screenshot of videos uploaded to social networks.
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