Nine Cubans stopped at sea off the Florida Keys

The Coast Guard stopped a boat Sunday off the Florida Keys that was carrying nine people who were trying to reach the United States.

The men were traveling in a makeshift boat about 10 miles south of the Middle Keys city of Key Colony Beach, according to a Coast Guard press release.

A patrol boat crew from Coast Guard Station Marathon picked them up and transferred them to the Cutter Katherine Moore.

That ship took the men to Cabanas, Cuba, according to the press release.

Until early 2017, those leaving Cuba for the United States could stay in the country and apply for permanent residency if they made it to shore. Those caught at sea were returned to Cuba.

The so-called “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy was done away with in the last months of the Obama administration, which reestablished diplomatic relations with the Cuban government.

Leading up to the end of wet-foot, dry-foot, successful and unsuccessful migration attempts via South Florida waters were weekly and often daily events. While many Cubans still make the dangerous journey across he Florida Straits in barely seaworthy vessels, they do it with far less frequency since, if they are caught, they are guaranteed to be sent back whether or not they reach U.S. soil.