Government Reports Growing Number of Undocumented Cubans Detained in Mexico Juan O. Tamayo - Miami Herald
go to original October 28, 2013

A Mexican Navy fast boat, left, escorts a Mexican Navy patrol boat carrying illegal Cuban immigrants as they are sent in small groups to the naval base in Isla Mujeres in Mexico's Caribbean coast. (AP/Israel Leal)

The number of undocumented Cubans intercepted in Mexico on their way to the U.S. border has more than doubled in the eight months since Havana eased its migration controls, according to Mexican government figures.

The Interior Ministry numbers were the latest indication of the greatly increased flow of Cubans, both undocumented and legal, through Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean over the past year.

Most, if not all of the Cubans, are heading to the United States, where they are protected from deportation to Cuba, can receive benefits as refugees and qualify for permanent U.S. residency after one year and one day.

Interdictions in Mexico of undocumented Cubans totaled 2,300 from January to August of this year, compared to 994 in the same period in 2012, according to the Interior Ministry.

The number does not include those who make it to the border undetected by Mexican authorities. That figure has been estimated at well over 13,000 for the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30.

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