A group of eleven Cuban nationals, who navigated a raft approximately six meters long, arrived on a beach in Hollywood, Florida on Monday after a perilous journey on the high seas.
According to El Nuevo Herald, the Sun Sentinel reported that the eleven Cubans arrived on the beach, about 18 miles north of Miami, on September 9 and were immediately put under the custody of the United States Border Patrol in Dania Beach, Florida.
Witnesses on the scene said the Cuban immigrants, who were between 25 and 45 years old, knelt and kissed the American coast and then proceeded to take pictures with some of the beach-goers that were there.
For the moment, the eleven rafters are at the disposition of Florida authorities. Medical personnel attended to the Cubans to check their health, which is reported as stable.
The journey from Cuba to Miami is one of the toughest for the rafters that leave the island in their journey towards the United States. At least two Cubans lost their life recently, when the raft they navigated along with another 23 immigrants overturned in the open seas, reported El Nuevo Herald.
The Cuban rafters that arrived in Miami on Monday will be processed and will be notified to appear before an immigration judge before being able to receive help from community groups in Miami, reported Telemundo.
Currently, American legislation gives residence in some cases where Cuban rafters leave the island illegally, with the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Law, which the eleven immigrants can appeal to.
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