U.S. to Return 15 Cuban Boat Lift Detainees

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced today that it has reviewed the cases of 28 Cuban detainees and has decided to send 15 of them back to their homeland “in the near future.”

The 15, who came to the United States in the boat lift of 125,000 people from Mariel, Cuba, have been convicted of crimes ranging from burglary to first-degree murder, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The cases of the 28 were reviewed by three-member repatriation review panels set up at the Justice Department in the wake of last year’s prison riots by Cuban detainees at Atlanta and Oakdale, La., which were triggered by an agreement with Cuban President Fidel Castro to resume sending many of the detainees back to the island.

The three-member panels will undertake further review of the remaining 13 detainees of the group of 28 to determine whether they should be returned to the island or released, Justice Department aides Cary Copeland and George Calhoun told a news conference.

The 28 are the first cases to be heard by the review panels and are among hundreds of detainees who face repatriation reviews.

The two Justice Department aides declined to speculate on when the 15 might be sent back, noting that they fully expect that lawyers for them will file suits.