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                  Stranded Cuban Migrants Begin Arriving in US

   by VOA News

   The first of several thousand Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica
   have crossed into the United States under a plan agreed to among
   Central American leaders.

   The migrants arrived in Miami Sunday, after 180 of them first crossed
   the U.S. border late last week at Laredo, Texas.

   The deal allows the migrants to be flown from Costa Rica to El
   Salvador, before being taken to the U.S. border by bus.

   This pilot effort will be evaluated by the Central American governments
   before it is expanded to allow all the Cubans to leave for the U.S.

   ''Officials estimate it will take 28 flights to get the Cubans to El
   Salvador.

   As many as 8,000 Cuban migrants have been stuck in Costa Rica for
   several months after traveling from their home to Ecuador through
   Colombia and Panama, and then into Costa Rica, before being denied
   entry by Nicaragua.

   The migrants left their home for the United States fearing improved
   relations between Washington and Havana will end a Cold War-era policy
   that grants Cubans preferential treatment if they arrive in the U.S. by
   land.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/stranded-cuban-migrants-begin-arrivin
   g-in-us/3152339.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/stranded-cuban-migrants-begin-arriving-in-us/3152339.html