The U.S. Coast guard on Monday said it was searching for up to five Cuban migrants after pulling eight others from the waters off Miami. "The coast Guard was notified of three people floating in rubber tubes," spokesman Gabe Somma said. The service deployed helicopters and ships to find the migrants early Monday but struggled to rescue one migrant who refused to be pulled from the water, he said. Under a controversial U.S. policy, Cuban migrants who manage to arrive on U.S. soil are allowed to remain the country, while those intercepted at sea are returned to Cuba. Migrants from Haiti or other countries who arrive illegally are repatriated whether or not they make it ashore. According to Coast Guard figures, more than 3,700 Cubans tried to illegally reach the Florida coast by sea in the 12 months ending in September, or 1,500 more than the previous year.
