MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a Cuban migrant found clinging to a support column of the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys Wednesday morning, the agency confirmed.
Coast Guard crews lowered the man from the bridge and turned him over to the U.S. Border Patrol around 6:30 a.m., said Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Estrada, a Coast Guard spokesman.
Border Patrol officials could not immediately be reached for comment. It is unclear if the man was alone or part of a larger group of arrivals.
The incident happened as the Coast Guard, Border Patrol and U.S. Customs Air and Marine Operations are dealing with the largest influx of maritime migration from Cuba to South Florida in nearly a decade. The Keys are the most frequent landing spot for the migrants.
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