Coast Guard Investigating Claims Cuban Migrants Were Mistreated

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating claims that the Cuban migrants who made it to a lighthouse in the Keys were mistreated as they waited for a judge to decide their fate.

Lawyers for the 24 Cubans showed a note they said came from a bottle found near American Shoal Lighthouse where the scene took place May 28th.

Fisherman Jason Harrelson found the letter and handed it over to the Coast Guard.

"Those copies were sent out pretty much simultaneously with what we sent the Coast Guard as well, Harrelson explained, "because it said on the letter, it said legal and some e-mail address on them and we sent what had out."

Inside was a two-page handwritten letter from the 24 migrants alleging mistreatment aboard the 278-foot Coast Guard Cutter, including violence from Coast Guard personnel.

Four of the Cubans were sent back to Cuba. Twenty were judged to have a fear of persecution and were sent to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station.

"This is a unique case. Twenty out of 24 with a credible fear of persecution. That's extraordinary and getting critical evidence from a letter in a bottle. That is as amazing as anything I have seen in a while," said Kendall Coffey, one of eight lawyers who represented the migrants.

The Cubans had spent 37 days on board a Coast Guard cutter waiting for a decision from Federal Judge Darrin Gayles on whether their landing on a U.S. lighthouse would allow them to enter the country.

The Coast Guard acknowledged the S.O.S message found on June 27 is legitimate and has mounted a major investigation.

"Is it possible someone aboard that cutter helped them out?" CBS4's Hank Tester asked well-known local immigration attorney Willy Allen.

"It could be, but from what we understand the bottle was thrown into the water when they were exchanging ships from one ship to another and they did see a fishing vessel nearby," he said.

There are still plenty of steps that remain. As the Coast Guard investigates, the migrants will continue to be processed at the base and there could be a possible appeal of the judge's decision that prevented them from entering the country.