14191: Chamberlain: Migrants Repatriated (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   MIAMI, Dec 24 (AP) -- The Coast Guard has repatriated 59 migrants to
Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, including a group of 16 Dominicans
jammed onto a disabled 17-foot boat and abandoned by their two smugglers,
officials said.
   The largest group was a 36-person Haitian delegation, who were stopped
Dec. 20 on a Bahamian-registered boat. That group initially refused to stop
when approached by the Coast Guard about two miles east of Hallandale
Beach, officials said.
   Also on Dec. 20, the Coast Guard rescued seven Cubans from a sinking
raft south of Key Largo.
   The Dominican group was found about 15 miles southwest of Mona Island,
Puerto Rico on Dec. 21. The smugglers had left that boat four days earlier,
officials said, leaving their human cargo without food and water.
   Under a 1966 federal law, Cubans reaching U.S. shores usually are
allowed to stay. But in most instances, Cuban, Haitian and Dominican
migrants intercepted at sea are returned to their own country.