On Sunday, 7 February 2016, the Migration Department deported nine Cubans who had been arrested by the Dominican Armada (Navy) as they were trying to reach Puerto Rico illegally by boat.
They were named as Yaneisy Mesa, Jorge Felix Villarrando, William Terrero Ortiz, Lisandra Rodriguez Aguilera, Joel Martinez Luis, Junior Castillo Jerez, Yadier Gonzalez, Jean Carlos Ronald and Rodriguez Saldana. They left on a Pawa Dominicana flight escorted by Migration inspectors for handover to the Cuban authorities on their arrival in Havana.
They were held at the Refugee Center in Haina after their arrest. According to reports, several other Cubans are awaiting deportation at the center, including several women.
