Cuban Migrants Face Uncertain Future After Landing In Florida

CBS Miami

January 7, 2023

Yoandri Sánchez Sánchez arrived in the Florida Keys just before sunrise Thursday with 22 other Cubans on a makeshift, motorized raft they built themselves.

Their 100-mile journey from the communist island across the dangerous Florida Straits began on New Year's Eve and was interrupted by heavy rain that forced them to take shelter on a small deserted island for a couple days. But after six days they finally made it, and Sanchez was overcome with joy.

"We came to work and to help our families in Cuba," said Sánchez, who is among more than 4,400 migrants, mostly Cubans with some Haitians, who have arrived by boat in Florida since August as those two countries face deepening and compounding political and economic crises. Amid the influx in Florida and a much bigger one in Texas, the Biden administration announced new immigration rules Thursday.

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