Six Cubans migrants landed a makeshift sailboat they christened "The Tremendous Barack Obama" on the beach at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, and immediately started kissing the sand.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that their small wooden boat was handmade, with sheet metal siding and a tarp for a sail. On one side, "Barack Obama" was written in yellow paint along with shorthand in Spanish for "the tremendous."
Petty Officer Eric Woodall told the newspaper that the Coast Guard received a call about the craft at around 7:30 Monday night, but there was no time to mount an interdiction.
“When we got word they landed, we stood down,” he said. Under U.S. policy, Cubans who reach American shores are allowed to stay and pursue citizenship.
A tourist from Texas, Cathy Crawley, told the newspaper that she saw the boat arriving, and several people jumped from the boat and started "kissing the beach." She added, "They were so happy and their faces were just like, 'We're alive, and we're here.' I've never seen anything like it."
In the boat were four men and two women, one of whom was six months pregnant. They told reporters they had been at sea for nine days and had run out of food some time before.
The migrants sat on the sand and were brought food and water. The pregnant woman was taken to the hospital.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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