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Rescue By Cruise Ship Not A Happy Event
We might think that being rescued by a cruise ship, after floating in the ocean for days or weeks, would be a good thing. Cuban refugees, commonly found on or close to routes traveled by cruise ships, are brought aboard to be cared for. Cheering passengers feel good about it all but for the refugees, a hot meal on a cruise ship is about the last thing in the world they want.It's called the "Wet Foot, Dry Foot" policy that allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil on their own to take a fast track to permanent residency. But if they get picked up by a helpful cruise ship, they most likely go back to Cuba.
"The cruise line usually takes them on the ship, calls the U.S. Coast Guard who sails out to the scene, and the Coast Guard processes the refugees and sails them back to Cuba where they end up in Castro's jails," says maritime attorney James Walker on his CruiseLawNews website.
Friday night, some floating refugees apparently knew all about the Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy, refusing to be rescued by Royal Caribbean's giant Oasis of the Seas. On board was our friend @NomadicMatt who tweeted, "Our @royalcaribbean cruise ship just stopped to help rescue Cuban refugees in raft that was stranded at sea."
But it did not take long for refugees to take on food and water then continue on their way, trying to leave before the U.S. Coast Guard arrived.
"There is a lot of yelling on the raft and at times they look like they are trying to get away as they know the coast guard was called," tweeted @NomadicMatt.
Odds are, the Coast Guard found the refugees, picked them up and will send them back to Cuba. But in the cover of night, they might have eluded authorities and made it to shore on their own.
"Let's hope the winds and currents and the grace of God bring the refugees ashore tonight and they plant their feet on U.S. soil and can begin free lives here in America," concluded Walker.
[Flickr photo by TarikB]
"There is a lot of yelling on the raft and at times they look like they are trying to get away as they know the coast guard was called," tweeted @NomadicMatt.
Odds are, the Coast Guard found the refugees, picked them up and will send them back to Cuba. But in the cover of night, they might have eluded authorities and made it to shore on their own.
"Let's hope the winds and currents and the grace of God bring the refugees ashore tonight and they plant their feet on U.S. soil and can begin free lives here in America," concluded Walker.
[Flickr photo by TarikB]
Filed under: North America, United States, Cruises
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bastablejc Jul 1st 2012 8:59PM
I was on board with Nomadic Matt, sent tweets (@bastable), shot video, and took photos of the incident. There was no way these guys got away in the cover of night, though -- the incident happened more than two hours before sunset and the Coast Guard cutter was summoned from the station on Key West, which I estimate was about an hour away. Their engine was smoking, too -- a dead giveaway. Here's the post I wrote about the incident, including images and video. -- Jason Cochran, former Gadling contributor: http://jason-cochran.com/video/my-cruise-ship-intercepts-a-raft-of-cuban-refugees-video/
Ernie Jul 2nd 2012 9:13AM
I live in Florida and we have more than enough illegal immigrants, they must have come over to vote for Mr Obama who will do anything for them to get a vote!
Come on man!! Jul 2nd 2012 8:48PM
You're an idiot!!
terry Jul 2nd 2012 9:26PM
No he is not an idiot just because he's telling the truth don't make him an idiot .Idiot
Mark Jul 2nd 2012 9:45PM
I have to agree with "Come on Man" You're an idiot. I'm so sick and tired of people bringing up Obama in every single story. Last night I got a paper cut. It was probably Obama's fault.
ronald Jul 3rd 2012 2:32AM
You got that right!
Darrell Elmore Jul 2nd 2012 9:40PM
this whole wet feet dry feet thing is so dumb it makes my hair hurt. We need to normalise relations with Cuba, (and Haiti) and make all immigration from those sites, follow normal immigration proecedures.
Damn., we did that with Vietnam and those people tried to kill me and I did the same to them. I really think the old school Cubans in Florida have lost their clout and we need to look to the needs of the nation and not a small group in a small place.
rick67 Jul 29th 2012 2:22PM
An illegal immigrant is just that, illegal, as in a criminal. Hawaii has Chinese, Texas has Mexicans, and Florida has Cubans. These people are fodder in a crossfire between conservatives and liberals. Each side is self-serving and both sides miss the mark as to what is better for the country as a whole. The only purpose for a politician is to create a crisis. The only purpose of a political bureaucrat is to prolong a crisis.