Migrants Reach Safety @Broward Cty. Beach/tbo.com 3-25-04

[tlcandie]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGAPO5NB9SD.html

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LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. (AP) - The Coast Guard and beachgoers helped three Cuban migrants to safety Thursday amid treacherous surf conditions after they were spotted off the coast on makeshift rafts made out of inner tubes, authorities said.
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Coast Guard Lt. Tony Russell said one migrant was rescued by a diver and hoisted into a helicopter and two others were helped to shore by people along the beach. He could not confirm whether the migrants were Cuban or whether any others were still at sea.
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The images were reminiscent of the arrival of Elian Gonzalez, who was found clinging to an inner tube in the waters off Florida's coast on Thanksgiving Day of 1999. His mother and others had died when their boat sank as they tried to cross the Florida Straits from Cuba, but Elian and two adults survived. The boy became the focus of an international custody battle between his Miami relatives and his father in Cuba. He was seized by federal agents in April 2000 and returned to Cuba.
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[Mika]

1. They must be criminals

They could have come here legally by filling out one of the 20,000+ legal immigration visas the US offers Cubans every year.

Unless.. they had failed, or would have failed, a US led background search for criminal records or circumstances that would prevent a LEGAL visa.

But.. the US's Cuban Adjustment Act allows Cubans permanent entry who make it here, including those who have failed a US background verification due to a criminal or mental health record.

Illegal immigrants made instantly legal.

Because of the US's Cuban Adjustment Act there is NO SUCH THING as a Cuban illegal immigrant in the USA.