Coast Guard Looking for 31 Cuban Migrants

[guajira]

Miami exiles will be screaming about Cubans dying fleeing from Castro - but they're quiet as mice when Mexicans die in the desert, or Haitians and Dominicans drown trying to get to the US (fleeing Castro??).

snippets:
KEY WEST - The Coast Guard continued a massive search today for 31 Cuban migrants believed to have been thrust into the sea when an alleged smuggling boat they were in capsized about 30 miles off Matanzas province along Cuba's north coast.

Cuban officials notified the Coast Guard by telex Sunday night that three Cuban survivors of a smuggling boat accident were plucked from the water and rescued by a freighter that returned them to the island late Sunday.

The survivors said they were on a 28-foot vessel that sank with at least 34 people on board. Early Monday morning, a Coast Guard helicopter found a Florida-registered vessel capsized about 16 miles from where the merchant ship picked up the three Cubans.

Florida-based smugglers routinely make the roughly 90-mile sprint between the U.S. and Cuba toting migrants whose passage is often underwritten by Miami-area relatives at a cost of as much as $10,000 per person. But the boats are often overloaded and periodically capsize. A number of Cubans are believed to have perished trying to make the voyage.
more....

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12447041.htm

[Vogon_Glory]

1. When Mexicans and Central Americans Die In The Desert...

It seems that when unfortunate Mexicans or Central Americans die horrible deaths in the Sonoran or Chihuahuan deserts, some self-proclaimed nativist elements are almost beside themselves in glee and more than willing to remark that it serves the unfortunates right.

I keep remembering that OT passage concerning the fate of the two cities on the plain. The OT prophets didn't mention same-sex hanky-panky, like the Scribes, the Pharisees, and Saul of Tarsus did later, but decried their inhospitality to strangers. I shudder to think of what might happen to a lot of immigrant-bashers if right wingie-dingies succeed in getting real divine justice.

[GregW]

2. Time to call in the magical dolphins ...

Or mabe Dumbnutto the fisherman cleaner can help :shrug:

[Judi Lynn]

3. Concerning the would-be workers who do make it through the mountains

and the desert,and the Rio Grande, and the water in places between California and Mexico which also claims them, there is the added thrill of standing a good chance of being shot, or at least beaten senseless by vigilantes once they do step one foot on dry American soil.

On the other hand, Cubans are encouraged to come to the U.S., where they are offered a smorgasbord of benefits, comparitively, beyond NOT BEING SHOT, NOT BEING DEPORTED once they arrive, including free work visa, instant legal status, Section 8 taxpayer-funded housing, food stamps, medical treatment, financial education assistance, etc., etc., etc.

Imagine how many people would be throwing themselves into the desert, into the ocean on tiny boats, into the Rio Grande if THEY were assured no one would send them back, but would award them government assistance for housing, food, medical treatment, and complete freedom from government and vigilante harrassment.

[guajira]

4. Fantastic Documentary Shows Rafters Reaching US

In late 90's I saw a movie at Miami Film Festival called "Balseros" (Rafters). Then a few years later an update was added.

It was filmed by a documentarian from Spain and it follows 5 rafters who leave Cuba in the 1994 (if I remember correctly) boatlift. Some of them end up in Guantanamo before getting to Miami. Then most of them choose not to stay in Miami, but move to Connecticut, the Midwest, etc. The film crew follows up 5 years later to see what happened to these Cuban Balseros.

For years I have been watching for the DVD of this film, and it just came out the end of July. Needless to say, I already have it.
You might be surprised to see how they adjusted to our society!