MIAMI — A group of 21 Cuban migrants who reached a lighthouse off the Florida Keys last month should be returned to the island nation because the structure does not count as U.S. soil, a Miami federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge Darrin Gayles' ruling said the 136-year-old American Shoal lighthouse does not count as dry land under the U.S.'s "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy.
Lawyers for the migrants had argued the lighthouse is U.S. territory, and their clients should get to stay. They had previously asked for an injunction to keep the U.S. Coast Guard from repatriating the migrants, but Tuesday's order denied that request.
Attorneys for the federal government acknowledged the lighthouse is U.S. property but argued it was not equal to dry land.
The lighthouse is located about 7 miles from Sugarloaf Key. At issue was whether the lighthouse, a historic 109-foot iron structure that was in use from 1880 until 2015, qualified as U.S. territory under the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy. Under that policy, Cubans who reach U.S. shores are usually allowed to stay, while those intercepted at sea are generally returned home.