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Judge rules 24 Cuban migrants on lighthouse must go

By Shawn Price
A group of Cuban migrants who managed to make their way to American Shoal Lighthouse, about five miles off Sugarloaf Key, have been denied their request to stay in the United States, as the lighthouse technically isn't "dry land." Screenshot: CBS Miami
A group of Cuban migrants who managed to make their way to American Shoal Lighthouse, about five miles off Sugarloaf Key, have been denied their request to stay in the United States, as the lighthouse technically isn't "dry land." Screenshot: CBS Miami

MIAMI, June 29 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Tuesday denied the request by 24 Cubans who climbed on to a lighthouse in the Florida Keys, to stay in the United States.

The judge ruled with the government that American Shoal Lighthouse, about five miles off Sugarloaf Key, technically isn't "dry land." The group, held on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter since last month, will be processed and sent back to Cuba, the Coast Guard said.

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"This is a very sad moment for all of us, but we have had our day in court," said Ramon Saul Sanchez of Democracy Movement, that gave the group legal support. "We had our hopes that freedom would be enjoyed by these people after they invested their lives and the sacrifices they have done."

"The exodus will not stop until the criminal dictatorship of the Castro family stops destroying the Cuban nation," Sanchez said.

The migrants have been the center of a legal battle over the long-standing U.S. immigration policy known as "wet foot, dry foot" that allows Cubans who've reached American soil an opportunity to stay here, but those found at sea are turned back.

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The policy might be increasingly challenged as relations between the U.S. and Cuba continue to thaw.

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