Cuban citizens who are attempting to enter the Untied States are no longer attempting to cross the 90 mile Straits of Florida and are instead traveling across the Yucatan Channel to enter Mexico.

According to the Associated Press:

Nearly 90 percent of all undocumented Cubans who make it to America now come overland rather than reaching U.S. shores by boat, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

From the Mexican coast, Cubans then travel up to the U.S. border, where unlike other undocumented migrants, they are welcomed under U.S. law.

Currently, if a Cuban migrant to captured on U.S. soil, then the migrant is allowed to stay in America. If they are caught by the U.S. Coast Guard at sea, then they are sent back to Cuba.

By smuggling into Mexico and traveling up to the U.S. border, the Cubans are thus able to increase their chances of entry.

Unlike other migrants, the Cubans have no need to run from the Border Patrol. They simply announce their nationality and ask to stay. As long as they don’t have criminal records or dangerous health problems, they are allowed to remain in America and seek permanent residency after a year.

The cost to be smuggled into the Untied Stated costs up to $10,000 per person, which is usually paid by relatives living in the United States.

To learn more about the Human Smuggling Market, please visit our Human Smuggling page.