US Coast Guard: 149 Haitians, Cubans Repatriated
MIAMI (CBS4/AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said it returned almost 150 migrants to their Caribbean homelands after intercepting their boats at sea.
A total of 112 Haitian migrants were returned to Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on Friday. A Coast Guard crew on a routine patrol discovered their sail freighter west of Great Inagua, Bahamas.
Officials say the vessel was "grossly overloaded" with 87 men, 19 women and six children. The migrants were given life jackets and transferred to the Coast Guard cutter.
The Coast Guard says it also returned eight Cuban migrants Wednesday and 29 Cuban migrants Friday to Bahia de Cabanas, Cuba. Officials say the migrants were picked up at sea in two separate incidents.
All the migrants received food, water and medical care aboard Coast Guard vessels before being repatriated.
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