A cruise ship came to the aid of six Cuban refugees when their improvised boat went off course and ended up in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Carnival Paradise spotted the gang on Friday as it was most likely making its way to the Florida shore.
According to a realtor, migrants can be seen floating toward the boat on a raft that resembles furniture in video footage taken by Orlando, Florida homeowner Cintia Zingoni.
Before they were all brought onboard the ship, a male migrant can be seen plunging into the ocean and swimming toward the boat.
“I was sad.” According to Zingoni, who was reported by CNN, “everyone on the boat was dancing and having a good time as they were dying.” “Going into that piece of wood was nearly a suicide mission,” someone said.
When the cruise liner came close to Cancun, the migrants were given a fresh set of clothes and transported to a Mexican law enforcement agency vessel.
It is uncertain how long they were stranded at sea.
The Carnival Paradise has saved Cuban refugees for the second time in two weeks.
On August 7, when the ship was sailing back to Tampa, the crew saw at least 24 individuals squeezing into a decrepit boat close to the communist island.
The United States Coast Guard received 21 men and 3 women.
Five Cuban migrants were also saved at sea in April when a cruise ship bound for Mexico came to their aid when the engine on their improvised boat failed.
Apparently, at least 16 other migrants made the decision to swim back to Cuba.
The lack of essential items and limitations on civil freedoms in Cuba have led to a rise in perilous migration journeys on rickety rafts via the Straits of Florida.
Data from the U.S. Coast Guard show that during the fiscal year 2022, which runs from October 1, 2021 to September 30, there were 4,575 interdictions of Cuban migrants.
In contrast, the agency recorded 838 interactions during the 2021 fiscal year and just 49 during the 2020 fiscal year.
In the past, President Bill Clinton’s “wet foot, dry foot” 1995 policy, which amended the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, had permitted Cubans escaping the communist state to stay in the United States. They were qualified under the legislation to apply for residency in a year.
On January 12, 2017, President Barack Obama, however, abolished the immigration programme by issuing an executive order that repealed the long-standing statute that gave Cuban immigrants entering the nation permanent status.
According to U.S. policy, Cubans apprehended at sea by American officials are sent back to the communist nation or the nation from where they initially sailed.