Coast Guard Encountering Increase in Cuban Migrants
BLITZER: The U.S. Coast Guard is seeing a record number of migrants trying to make it to the United States by crossing one of the most deadly waterways in the Western hemisphere, the Florida Straits. In a CNN exclusive, our own Alina Machado went along with the U.S. Coast Guard to get a firsthand look at what's happening.</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: We got eyes on him.</s>ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dramatic scene plays out in the Florida Straits.</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: Have you got him?</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: Yeah, I've got him.</s>MACHADO: A United States Coast Guard plane spots this small boating packed with 29 Cubans, including several women and at least one young boy. The boat is taking on water.</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: So it's coming on scene.</s>MACHADO: Yet, when the Coast Guard cutter, "Margaret Norvell" arrives to help, the group's leader refuses to cooperate.</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: They are claiming they are</s>MACHADO: Eventually, the group gives up and gives in.</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: They got them now.</s>MACHADO: Joining the growing number of migrants rescued making this deadly journey to the</s>U.S. UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: We've been seeing the highest migration levels that we've seen from Cuba and Haiti in the past five years.</s>MACHADO: Roughly 10,000 migrants have been found in this area just this year. That's more than 3,000 than the year before. The biggest spike, Cubans whose numbers have doubled since the Castro government lifted travel restrictions in 2012. (on camera): You have to be pretty desperate to go into open water and just try to make it, no?</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: Yeah, it is.</s>MACHADO: It's dangerous. It's very dangerous.</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: Most of it is economic, you know. They are looking for a better way of life.</s>MACHADO (voice-over): Lieutenant Kirk Fistic (Ph) is the commanding officer of the "Norvell," one of the agency's newest hi-tech ships in the Coast Guard. LT. KIRK FISTIC (ph), "</s>MARGARET NORVELL" COMMANDING OFFICER: This is the front line of Coast Guard operations. This is where the action happens.</s>MACHADO: We wanted to get a firsthand look at the action. So we spent a few days on board the "Norvell." And what we saw was sobering. A few hours into our journey -- the "Norvell" takes on 10 migrants. The lights of the U.S. shine in the distance. This is the closest this group will get.</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: One more!</s>MACHADO: A doctor is concerned the last one may be suicidal, refusing to eat after telling the Coast Guard this was his ninth attempt to reach America. (on camera): So you see they put man on the stretcher, on the cutter, safely. But it doesn't appear he's responding. At this point, it's unclear what they will do with him. We know that the remaining nine migrants are all in the same area on this boat and they probably will be here until the process runs its course. (voice-over): In the early morning hours another group of Cuban migrants is found barely moving, idling in what appears to be the middle of nowhere.</s>UNIDENTIFIED COAST GUARD OFFICER: Take them by the rope.</s>MACHADO: Each one is given a life vest before being transferred to the cutter. Their small boat is then filled with gasoline.</s>MACHADO: And shot up with a 50-caliber machine gun.</s>MACHADO: A fire sinks the tiny boat. On the cutter, migrants wear Tyvek suits to stay dry. They're given red beans and rice to eat twice a day and a rubber mat to sleep on. Some interact with Coast Guard members, like Ronald Garcia, Cuban- American himself.</s>RONALD GARCIA, U.S. COAST GUARD: It's terrible to see the situation that they are in.</s>MACHADO: In all, we saw about 80 Cuban migrants in just four days with the Coast Guard, all of them with desperation in their eyes. For most, their search for a new life is over at least for now.</s>MACHADO: Of the 80 migrants we saw, 29 Cubans who were found on a U.S. territory were allowed to stay in the U.S. because of a long- standing policy that only applies to Cubans. Most migrants who are found at sea are usually sent back, regardless of their country of origin -- Wolf?</s>BLITZER: Alina Machado, thanks for that report. Alina Machado, I want to add this note. This is just coming in to CNN. New numbers from the U.S. Coast Guard in Florida. This week, they found dozens of migrants off the Miami coast. In all, about 640 migrants have been found this month alone. At least four have died in the journey. We're down to the final days until the midterm elections here in the United States and the races are very close in several states. Here's the question. Why? What will make the difference in these final days?