Coast Guard Cutter Charles David Jr.’s crew repatriated three Cuban migrants to Cuba, Wednesday.

The three Cuban migrants were interdicted Sunday by the Coast Guard Cutter Venturous crew approximately 50 miles southeast of the Bahamas and brought aboard due to safety of life at sea concerns.

“These migrant ventures are not only illegal, but in many cases very dangerous,” said Lt. Gregory Mitchell, commanding officer of cutter Charles David Jr. “In many cases, including this one, the vessels we interdict are unseaworthy and have little to no safety or communications equipment. We strongly encourage anybody even thinking of taking to the sea to go through the proper, legal channels for immigration.”

Since Oct. 1, 2020, Coast Guard crews have interdicted 90 Cubans compared to:

• 5,396 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2016
• 1,468 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2017
• 259 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2018
• 313 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2019
• 49 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2020

Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical attention. Throughout the interdiction, Coast Guard crew members were equipped with personal protective equipment to minimize potential exposure to any possible case of COVID-19. There were no migrants in these cases reported to have any COVID-19 related symptoms.