Coast Guard officials say more than 200 migrants trying to illegally enter the U.S. have been picked up in Caribbean waters in the last week.
Officials say all the migrants were removed from overloaded, unseaworthy vessels that lacked lifejackets or navigation equipment. They included 90 Cubans, 82 Haitians and 41 from the Dominican Republic. All were returned home.
Among the Cuban migrants were 65 rescued by two cruise ships came in separate incidents in the Florida Straits and 12 stranded on an uninhabited island in the Bahamas.
An additional 17 migrants suspected of criminal activity were brought to Miami and Puerto Rico for further investigation.
Since Oct. 1, the Coast Guard has picked up 682 Cubans, 559 Haitians and 217 Dominican migrants at sea.
