MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Twenty-one Cuban migrants and their families are waiting for federal authorities to decide if reaching the lighthouse off of the Florida Keys equates to reaching U.S. land.
If it's considered U.S. land, they would be able to stay in the U.S. Otherwise, the U.S. Coast Guard will be sending them back to Cuba.
Thirteen of the migrants were identified by family members and friends locally as Liban Lio, Alexeis Leyva, Soltan Ruiz, Luis Ruiz, Oscar Lopez, Michael Perez, Yordanki Varea, Alexander Lopez, Jennifer Almaguen, Carlos Javiel, Leonides Parra, Yasel Kalet, Carlos Quevedo, Marco Pastoriza, Alexea Batista.
The group of migrants rushed to climb the light house and refused to get off of it for hours.
About a decade ago, a group of Cuban migrants were in a similar situation when they reached the Seven Mile Bridge. Federal authorities sent them to Cuba, but they were able to return when a judge reversed the decision.