PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 15 (UPI) -- One man drowned early Thursday as a group of 34 Cubans, some of them children, swam ashore in Florida.
Because the survivors made it to land without being caught by U.S. authorities, they are guaranteed admission to the country, The Palm Beach Post reported. The "wet foot, dry foot" policy applies only to Cubans.
Police say that they were dropped off by a boat. Some of the group wore life jackets.
Four men in the group knocked on the door of a house in Palm Beach shortly after 2:30 a.m., said that they had been on a boat that sank and asked the occupants to call police. When officers arrived, members of the group told them that one person was missing.
The body of a 39-year-old man was found in the surf.
"Everybody else was just staying put," said Police Capt. Rick Howe. "They weren't running -- they made it to shore. They're Cuban. They don't have to run."
The Cubans were taken to an immigration center for interviews and were then to be given medical examinations and released.
