--- title: Apprehended Haitians and Cuban Illegal Migrants Hit Five-Year Highs description: Over 4,300 Haitians and 2,985 Cubans apprehended since Oct. 1, Coast Guard says canonical: https://time.com/3086128/haiti-cuba-apprehended-migrants-coast-guard/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-06T14:15:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:31:41.041Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Apprehended Haitians and Cuban Illegal Migrants Hit Five-Year Highs og:description: Over 4,300 Haitians and 2,985 Cubans apprehended since Oct. 1, Coast Guard says og:url: https://time.com/3086128/haiti-cuba-apprehended-migrants-coast-guard/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39bd8f171f4ff5ea/69869e8b810bbb1331c92e75/cuba-boat-migrants-immigrants.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Two boats with 10 Cuban migrants are pictured anchored in Cayman Brac waters in this handout photo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Apprehended Haitians and Cuban Illegal Migrants Hit Five-Year Highs twitter:description: Over 4,300 Haitians and 2,985 Cubans apprehended since Oct. 1, Coast Guard says twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39bd8f171f4ff5ea/69869e8b810bbb1331c92e75/cuba-boat-migrants-immigrants.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Number of Illegal Migrants from Haiti and Cuba Stopped at Sea at 5-Year High by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Aug 6, 2014 2:15 PM CUT  Two boats with 10 Cuban migrants are pictured anchored in Cayman Brac waters on July 20, 2014 in the Cayman Islands. Two boats with 10 Cuban migrants are pictured anchored in Cayman Brac waters on July 20, 2014 in the Cayman Islands.Reuters by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Aug 6, 2014 2:15 PM CUT The number of illegal migrants apprehended while trying to reach the United States by sea from Haiti and Cuba has hit a five-year high, Coast Guard officials said. Over 4,300 Haitians have either been stopped at sea or are known to have arrived in Puerto Rico or the U.S. mainland since Oct. 1, while the number of Cubans stands at 2,985, NBC reports, a total of around 850 more than last year. Coast Guard officials said they are the highest numbers of the last five years. The journey is dangerous and many Haitians and Cubans drown along the way, federal officials say. The surge in captured migrants comes partly due to aggressive activity by Haitian smugglers, as well as relaxed travel policies introduced under Cuban President Raul Castro. \[[_NBC_](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/maritime-border-more-haitians-cubans-risk-their-lives-sea-n173021 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3086128/haiti-cuba-apprehended-migrants-coast-guard/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3086128/haiti-cuba-apprehended-migrants-coast-guard/"},"headline":"Number of Illegal Migrants from Haiti and Cuba Stopped at Sea at 5-Year High","datePublished":"2014-08-06T14:15:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:31:41.041Z","description":"Over 4,300 Haitians and 2,985 Cubans apprehended since Oct. 1, Coast Guard says","url":"https://time.com/3086128/haiti-cuba-apprehended-migrants-coast-guard/","keywords":["Immigration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39bd8f171f4ff5ea/69869e8b810bbb1331c92e75/cuba-boat-migrants-immigrants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39bd8f171f4ff5ea/69869e8b810bbb1331c92e75/cuba-boat-migrants-immigrants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Two boats with 10 Cuban migrants are pictured anchored in Cayman Brac waters in this handout photo","caption":"Two boats with 10 Cuban migrants are pictured anchored in Cayman Brac waters in this handout photo","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3086128/haiti-cuba-apprehended-migrants-coast-guard/","name":"Number of Illegal Migrants from Haiti and Cuba Stopped at Sea at 5-Year High"}}]}] ```