The United States Coast Guard repatriated 169 Cuban migrants to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba, Thursday.
USCG officials said these repatriations are a result of nine separate migrant interdictions at sea in the South Florida Straits.
The Coast Guard said it has observed a steady increase in illegal maritime migration attempts from Cuba to the Southeastern U.S. since the announcement of improved diplomatic relations with Cuba in December 2014.
So far, for the month of January, 396 Cuban migrants have been interdicted attempting to reach U.S. shores.
The Coast Guard estimates 1,942 Cubans have attempted to illegally migrate via the sea since Oct. 1, 2015.
