Summary The statement came as the Coast Guard said it repatriated 57 Cubans.
MIAMI (AFP) - The Coast Guard on Friday denied widespread rumors that US immigration rule changes would soon clamp down on Cuban migration.
The statement came as the Coast Guard said it repatriated 57 Cubans picked up in high-sea interdictions aboard leaky vessels.
Cuban migrants, unlike those from any other nation, are allowed to stay in the United States if they reach land. But they are repatriated if picked up at sea.
Fear that this special treatment will end has led to a spike in attempted crossings since Washington and Havana announced in December plans to restore diplomatic ties, which they did in July.
"We recognize that smugglers are perpetuating rumors of changes to our immigration policy and some people may believe it," said Captain Mark Fedor with the Coast Guard s 7th District.
"They may get desperate and take to the ocean in very unseaworthy vessels which creates a dangerous situation.
"Everyone needs to understand the Coast Guard s missions have not changed so if migrants are interdicted at sea, then they will be returned to their country of origin," Fedor said.
The Coast Guard said it continues to "aggressively patrol" the Florida Straits, the strip of ocean separating Cuba from the United States, "to detect and deter illegal and unsafe maritime migration."
In fiscal year 2015, 4,462 Cuban attempted to illegally enter the United States by sea, the Coast Guard said, up from 3,940 in the same period the previous year.
