Key West Boat Charter Comes to Rescue of 9 Cubans

The migrants likely will be allowed to stay in the U.S. under the so-called "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy.

A Key West boat charter came to the rescue of nine Cuban migrants who had spent four days on a remote island.

Galleon Resort and Marina-based Adventurous Spirit Tours Capt. Mikey Tilson and his charter clients were at Boca Grande Key on Monday morning when three of the migrants walked out of the mangroves. The island is about 10 miles west of Key West and has poor cellphone reception.

Tilson tells The Key West Citizen (http://bit.ly/1g5xMPx ) that the migrants were "super excited to see us." His customers gave the migrants water and granola bars.

Tilson alerted the U.S. Coast Guard by radio.

The migrants likely will be allowed to stay in the U.S. under the so-called "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy. Cuban migrants stopped at sea are usually returned home.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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