U.S. Judge Delays Return of 3 of Cuban Buick Rafters

Reuters ^ | 2-6-04 | Frances Kerry

[Indy Pendance]

MIAMI (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge ordered on Friday that three of a group of 11 Cubans who tried to sail to Florida in a boat made from an old Buick car not be sent home at least until Monday afternoon.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno was responding to a motion filed in court by a Cuban American exile group seeking an injunction to stop the group from being repatriated.

The Cubans are currently being held on a Coast Guard cutter at sea after being stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard in the Florida Straits on Tuesday as they tried to make the 90-mile crossing from the communist island to Florida in their green 1959 Buick remodeled as a boat.

Moreno's order applied only to a family of three -- Luis Grass, his wife and son -- and not to the other eight on board the Buick. In theory, that means those eight could be repatriated at any time.

Moreno said he wanted time to be sure of his jurisdiction in the case and asked for the plaintiffs to resubmit an amended case to the court. He set another hearing on the case for 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) on Monday.

He said the government should not send Grass and his family back to Cuba until at least 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) that day, and added this was reasonable in that the government probably would not have sent them home by this time even without his order.

When Cuban migrants are caught at sea, they are generally taken aboard a Coast Guard cutter for interviews. They are then repatriated unless they can make a case for political asylum.

Images of the group motoring through the water in their stately, green Buick, first shown on local television stations, captured the imagination of Miami's large Cuban American community, not least because four of the 11 people on board had tried a similar voyage on a modified 1951 Chevy truck last July, only to be picked up and sent home.

The Democracy Movement, an exile group, went to court on behalf of the Buick rafters on Thursday, seeking an injunction to prevent the group from being returned home.

The Coast Guard has refused to comment on the case, saying the agency does not discuss migrant interdiction cases until they are resolved.

But Dexter Lee, a lawyer for the government, told the court that the 11 migrants from what he called "the Buick watercraft" were on a Coast Guard cutter.

Grass was one of those who made the journey on the Chevy truck. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said that Grass and his family had been interviewed for a visa to the United States recently and possibly were on the verge of being granted visas.

[Indy Pendance]

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[El Conservador]

Keep'em here!!!

They deserve freedom, not being sent to Fidel's plantation!!!

[Guillermo]

They send Cubans, who come here seeking freedom back quite quickly, but Mexicans, who come from a free country, are offered amnesty...

[Conservateacher]

Anyone this resourceful would be a boon to the US!!! Let em stay!

[swarthyguy]

I say keep these guys here, just for the creativity of their method.

Between the truck and the car, they deserve entry.

[cyborg]

Certainly give Jesse James a run for his money in monster garage.

[cyborg]

never heard it put that way

[tubebender]

Give them a spot on Monster Garage...

[AmishDude]

but Mexicans, who come from a free country,

Free...but, after a fashion.

[ozzymandus]

Why is it that any Maxican can stroll across the border and reap the windfall of government handouts, while Cubans who escape from a communist prison state by making boats out of old cars (for God's sake) are summarily sent back to be shot or imprisoned? These Cubans should be treated as heroes.

[Grut]

It was probably the portholes on the fenders that gave them the idea....

[livius]

Free...but, after a fashion.

True, Mexico is another socialist hole - it just doesn't have a dictator. Just your typical non-functional socialist economy, which means that a few hyper-rich government-connected families get all the goodies.

However, aside from that, I think these Cubans should be allowed to stay. We need their level of creativity here. Imagine the ways they might work out for getting to Mars...

[Incorrigible]

Fri Feb 6, 9:07 AM ET
Still image from television footage shows a group of Cubans as they tried to sail a 1959 Buick converted into a boat through the Florida Straits towards the United States. The group were intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard (news - web sites), relatives in Cuba and Cuban exiles said on Wednesday. REUTERS/handout

 

Wed Feb 4, 4:17 PM ET
Still image from television footage shows a U.S. Coast Guard (news - web sites) vessel approaching a group of Cubans, as they tried to sail a 1959 Buick converted into a boat through the Florida Straits towards the United States, on Feburary 3, 2004. The same group had already tried last July to reach Florida in a vessel made from a 1951 Chevy truck, only to be picked up by the Coast Guard and sent home, relatives in Cuba and Cuban exiles said on Wednesday. The Coast Guard intercepted the bright green Buick-boat on Tuesday during its journey over the 90-mile (140-km) stretch between Cuba and Florida, exile groups said. NO SALES NO ARCHIVES EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/CBS4/Handout

 

 

That's ingenuity!  Four of the folks on the Buick were on this truck!

 

Cubans Found at Sea on Pickup Truck Converted to Motor Raft

 

Let's keep 'em!

[FairOpinion]

"I think these Cubans should be allowed to stay. We need their level of creativity here."

===

And their determination. This is the second time they did it. These are the same ones who got here with the floating truck.

[Indy Pendance]

Thanks for the pics. Can you imagine the reaction the CG had when they first spotted them?

[sandbar]

Chitty chitty bang bang
Chitty chitty bang bang
Chitty chitty bang bang
We love you...

[flying Elvis]

Since the Buick was an American made car, and as large as Rhode Island, we should say it was American territory and let them in. ;) Or we could send them back and anxiously wait on their next Monster boat.

[FairOpinion]

And it's way past time to repeal the "dry foot, wet foot" Clinton policy and treat Cubans as refugees from a brutal dictatorship, as per the original Cuban Adjustment Act.

I would really like to see Bush do this.

[longtermmemmory]

This is their second attempt, they are doomed if they go back.

Say do they still have the car? I know a car show that would welcome the opportuntity to feature it in a display!