41 Cuban migrants come ashore in remote Florida islands

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — U.S. authorities say 41 Cuban migrants have reached U.S. soil, coming ashore in remote islands off Key West.

According to Customs and Border Protection, 30 men, 10 women and one child reached the Marquesas Keys in a fishing boat Tuesday. Under the so-called “wet foot, dry foot” policy, Cubans reaching U.S. soil generally can remain.

The Coast Guard says 1,178 Cubans have been intercepted at sea since Oct. 1, and that Fidel Castro’s death Nov. 25 does not appear to have added significantly to their ongoing surge in migration. Customs officials say the first Cubans to reach U.S. soil since Castro’s death landed Dec. 2 on Mona Island in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, followed by a group that reached the Florida Keys on Dec. 6.