Cubans leave boat as standoff ends
(CNS): The MV Bulk Freedom was finally able to leave the George Town harbour late last night after the stand-off between the Cuban migrants and the Cayman authorities ended. The government obtained a court order to get treatment for a sick infant among the group after her parents repeatedly refused to accompany her to hospital throughout the day. Premier Alden McLaughlin made the announcement on the campaign trail last night that government had used the courts to get the baby treatment, and as a result the Freites family had been taken to the George Town hospital. Shortly afterwards, Customs and Border Control announced that after the family left the ship, the rest of the group was removed.
The stand-off, which lasted almost three days, between the group of Cuban migrants and government began when the Bulk Freedom brought them back to local waters, having found the Cubans adrift at sea and rescued them early Tuesday morning. Ten members of the group were awaiting the processing of asylum claims and were wearing electronic tags. However, the 911 centre lost track of them Sunday evening, after they set sail on their ill-fated journey along with Javier Freites, Erica Alvarez-Freites and their ten-month-old baby daughter.
But when the ship reached Grand Cayman, the group refused to get off and urged the captain to take them to the United States or Central America. However, the captain refused for a number of reasons, largely based on maritime health and safety regulations.
The group had been documenting their time aboard the ship in a communications room via social media, making repeated claims that they were being mistreated by the Cayman authorities, which has been emphatically denied by the government.
CBC confirmed that all of the Cubans were escorted ashore to government COVID-19 quarantine facilities and further details would be released later today.
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Category: Border Control, Local News
Javier Freites and his wife endangered the life of their child first by setting off on a boat that was totally unprepared to make any sort of journey. They then once again endanger the life of their precious daughter by fighting the very people who saw that she was in need of medical attention. Shame on them. What was their motive? In my opinion, it takes a warped mind to not consider the health and wellbeing of your child above and beyond anything else. I am shocked that at least one of the parents would not accompany their child to the hospital but I guess their demands that they are taken to some other country is more important than their child. Cayman has been good to this family so why the rush to leave?
Society values a woman with a rich man or a baby. If she is alone, however, her ethics, intelligence, hard work, etc., don’t count for much–but we’re getting there.
Do you mean Cayman society? LOL, what an antiquated mind set.
It is easy to exercise power over an 18 year old girl or desperate Cubans seeking a better life or a female visitor from Madison-the police, prosecutors and judges seem to work efficiently and deliver a judgment swiftly.
Just because you can, does not mean you should. The worst thing to do is to take a child from his parents, let alone to injure a father in the process.
Not every child running a fever is in danger. Cayman authorities actions against Cubans and the family with a child in particular are despicable.
The only ones that are “despicable” are those same cubans.
Granny, a you dat?
If not, it’s someone just as ignorant!
Try so stay in Miami with your ignorance. Hopefully you weren’t one of them funding their human trafficking efforts. They aren’t getting the cash locally to buy boats and phones with data plans to livestream.
946 – Thank you for revealing the conspiracy theory pedaling moron that you are. So are all the Cubans on the island with phones with data plans being secretly funded by a group with an agenda? Here’s from an American Cuban… stfu you ignorant jackass!
Caymanians: Trump was uncaring and heartless for securing the US border and deporting illegal immigrants.
Also Caymanians: Deport these Cubans refugees who’ve entered the country illegally at once!
🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️ #hypocrisy
What? When they first came here we had no intention of sending them back, but there were protocols in place to bring them into society, like quarantining for covid and getting certain refugee documents in place. It’s THEM who don’t want to be here, so why force them to?
Actually, I think you will find most Caymanians support tight border controls- in every country.
All you pretend left wingers watching CNN saying it’s racist the US tries to stop “undocumented” immigrants from entering the USA illegally should keep your “CNN hat on” and have that same standard for illegal immigrants coming to Cayman otherwise you’re a hypocrite.
Nothing is worse than a hypocrite.
I don’t want illegal immigration in the USA and I have that same position here. Cayman has their act together in so many ways!
10:35 What are you talking about? Are you an American? If not, mind your own crap and address your own issues. Maybe if you did mind your own issues, you wouldn’t have convicted woman beaters as parliament speakers. After all, you all are nothing but a territory of the UK.
I for one can say Cayman is not xenophobic. What I must say is that Cayman continues to bend over backwards for many groups of people and this group in particular seem to fail to remember that it is the disgrace of their country’s government that caused their own desire to leave their home country and not the Cayman Islands’ government. Now they insist on making demands left right and center on our government as if their sh** doesn’t stink.
I can’t wait for them to go so our country can spend resources on persons who deserve to be helped like those who are struggling economically in this country to which the government should be obligated to help.
There has to be a better way or at least a cheaper way to deal with this stuff. Has anyone even tried? It looks like the same bulls—- keeps repeating itself at great expense.
No more chances. These ungrateful persons must go. Cuba or whereever they wish to go let them go. I have no more sympathy and less empathy today for them. As one wise old lady said “when people want to leave you, let them!”
That only works when someone else is prepared to receive them.
Xenophobia – or ‘fear of the stranger’
Ask yourself, Why am I hostile towards asylum seekers?
What beliefs regarding asylum seekers do I hold and why?
Could those believes be false?
Local manifestations of xenophobia are the symptoms of a much broader “disease” that Cayman political leaders fail to recognize.
4:05 shut the hell up. We don’t have empathy for people who are clearly ungrateful
…and who are economic migrants, or fight to leave even AFTER we have granted them asylum.
…and still choose to travel illegally even after they have been given special dispensation for their non-Cuban spouse.
So much hostility on such a small island. Cayman Kind! Not!
In a Christian country no less. Equal rights for them but no one else!
Why no mention of their rights in their respective home countries though?
3:44 okay sour puss
In other countries they would have been manhandled and arrested the 1st day. Especially in the US
But Cayman is Kind, isn’t it?
Yups…. too Kind for the likes of you
Now… bugger off!
Kind, not foolish or willing to put up with disrespect.
The parents of the minor child need to be charged with endangering the life of the child. All need to be processed and sent back to Cuba as soon as their quarantine period has ended.
You sound like Nazi. And you never raised a child.
Possibly you have not… if you support the behaviour of these 2 “parents”.
546 You’re right.. they had everything at their disposal and still mistreated the child
i. the father of the child has been granted asylum, so he can’t be sent back to Cuba.
ii. the mother of the child is not from Cuba, she is from the Dominican Republic (i believe).
they have not helped themselves by their actions.
If they have now committed criminal offenses they should be deported back to Cuba and the record of their offenses should be forwarded to the US which does not usually accept people with criminal records. That might send a signal to others and might prevent this group from showing up here again in a few months.
What criminal offenses have they committed? You should work for Gestapo.
How about breaches of the Immigration Law?
For starters trespassing. They were on private property after being asked to leave. Depending on if there was any damage those charges can also be added
Ok. How about I one around your place of business saying I am in imminent danger and need your help. You let me in and the I barricade myself inside one of your rooms and say I am not going to leave until you arrange for me to be sent to the US. In the meantime you can’t continue your business. You think that’s not a criminal offence?
Terrorism
I wasn’t there but from what I understand offenses may include theft of government property, mutiny, resisting arrest, endangering a child, criminal trespass, threatening hijacking….?
On top of that their unlawful actions will have cost the shipping company many thousands of dollars and their conduct places all seafarers in danger. There will be much more hesitation in coming to the rescue of those “in distress” on the high seas if this kind of behavior is tolerated.
deported?.. records should be forwarded? did covid infect your brain? or they deprive you personally of something?
you, and those like you, are the very reason they don’t want to stay in Cayman-so much hatred and bigotry here
Your very own, The dishonorable one, is a convicted criminal, yet, you keep your mouths shut…
But you are so mighty kicking those who are already on the ground. Get off your high horse and Imagine, just for a split second, walking in their shoes.
News for you – the US doesn’t accept Cubans irrespective of whether they are claiming asylum. Under the Obama 2017 policy they are put on a plane straight to Cuba. Unlike us, Cuba has agreed to accept deportees from the US. Deportees from Cayman, you can whistle. Which is why we get stuck with them.
The US doesn’t give a hoot about your frivolous island records. Stop thinking you’re important, you’re just a UK territory with no say in world order. Go get drunk but please do not beat women.
They are 14 persons including the baby in this photo.
So that means that 11 persons, not 10, were wearing ankle monitors.
The father of the baby already has his residence so he probably didn’t have to wear ankle monitor. Or I guess it might be the mother of the baby without it as she’s not Cuban so not an asylum seeker.
14 – 3(Mother, Father and Baby) = 11 wearing ankle monitors
Absolutely disgusted with these people, send them packing!
Trying to make a better life for them? Who are you to be so lucky to not be born into a communist country? Half of y’all on here are probably Bible bashers too. Jesus weeps.
There is a right and wrong way to seek a better life. This is not the right way. Also why are you bringing children into this if things are so bad?
To 3:42 pm – if they are trying to get a better life for themselves, respect the country that they are in – who has been feeding them and giving them shelter.
Cayman is too nice that’s why they think they can do what they want.
DEPORT THEM … as soon as quarantine ends straight to ORIA and CUBA ahoy !!!
Ok so we now have to pay to quarantine them, the cost of the hospital bill for the infant and a place for them to reside after quarantine. Um no, just put them on the plane and send them back to Cuba. If the mother is so desperate to be reunited with her other children she has the freedom to return to DR, they are not Cuba. In addition, obviously her priorities are in the wrong place and now has put her baby’s health and welfare at risk so off to jail you go and then deportation!! If they found money to buy a boat they can now offer to pay for the cost of that poor Captain who I am sure had to pay for penalties from the Panama Canal and probably lost his job. Also, agree with the person who commented about the ankle monitors not being triggered, what kind of system do we have? who sold them the boat? if the one Cuban met his wife here then they had the freedom to roam around and work on our island they could have easily jumped on a plane to DR. Next time just send them back, there is no reason to have them wait here for our courts since it appears we take way to long to make a decision and we cannot handle the influx of Cubans onto our shores. Maybe they should think of sailing North like Bahamas.
Why did the ankle monitors not trigger an alarm before they boarded the boat and disappeared?
How could they pay for the boat, and for the phone data?
Please don’t allow them to manipulate us any longer, and draw benefits all the while. Stick them in the detention center in one room, and let them quarantine together. Why foot the bill for separate rooms at Holiday Inn and reward poor behaviour, they’ll just go misbehaving on once they are out.
They put the baby’s health and welfare at risk, charge them!
Caymanian Christianity at its finest and truest. Your King is proud of you.
CNS, I am bit perplex as to why you are describing them as the “FREITES” family. Javier’s wife is Frietes. In spanish countries, wives keep their surnames. They keep their mothers and father’s name. Javier’s full name is JAVIER JOUZ VARONA.
There is a way to correct them without acting like an arrogant **. “I am a bit perplex”.. seriously?..
I am a bit of Perspex.
I can see right through you.
sounds like you know alot about them
Have you considered taking a nap and asking someone to explain that last name thing to you again gov’t worker? Slooooowly?
I know a bit that his name is not “Javier Freites.” Yes, I’m still perplex 🙂
Not all wives in Spanish countries keep their surnames. I understand that the divorce rate is so high that that is the reason some prefer to keep their surnames.
What an ignorant comment. Women in many Spanish countries traditionally keep their first original surname and add the spouse to their name after marriage, it is simply common practice. Use google and informed yourself.
Who cares, deport them all