The Coast Guard announced that on Friday it repatriated 29 Cubans intercepted at sea in the last week, when they tried to reach the United States aboard rustic boats.
The first group was intercepted on Saturday afternoon, February 12, when it was about 46 miles south of Key West, the Coast Guard reported.
The second group was detected on the night of Sunday the 13th, aboard a 20-foot wooden boat, 21 miles west of Elbow Cay, Bahamas.
"We urge people not to go to sea in unseaworthy vessels," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Nolan, a Coast Guard watchman stationed in Sector Key West.
In a statement, the agency indicated that all intercepted migrants received food, water and basic medical attention.
In an image provided by the Coast Guard service, you can see the small wooden boat intercepted on February 13 with almost 20 people crammed on board and carrying what appear to be plastic containers.
In the last year, the number of Cuban immigrants intercepted at sea while trying to reach the United States has increased markedly, according to official data.
So far in fiscal year 2022, between October and February, the Coast Guard has intercepted 730 Cubans, a figure that almost equals the 838 Cubans rescued in fiscal year 2021.
[Coast Guard Suspends Search for 9 Cuban Migrants Shipwrecked in South Florida]
In 2020, the Coast Guard only detained 49 Cubans at sea.
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These figures, however, are far from the 5,396 Cuban citizens intercepted in 2016.
On January 9, the Coast Guard repatriated 119 Cubans to Bahía Cabañas, Cuba, whom it had intercepted at sea in 12 separate operations in the South Florida Strait.
Last year at least a dozen Cubans disappeared at sea, after the boats in which they were traveling trying to reach the United States capsized.