MIAMI- Nearly 40 Cuban migrants are being repatriated to Cuba after being caught at sea by U.S. Coast Guard officials.
The 39 migrants, who were first captured Monday aboard a rustic vessel in waters northwest of Havana, were returned Saturday to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba, the Coast Guard reported.
Cubans are increasingly leaving their island amid fears they might lose a special status that gives Cubans automatic residency in the United States if they reach U.S. soil and in the wake of normalized diplomatic relations between the two countries.