July 4, 1999
Web posted at: 1:12 p.m. EDT (1712 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- Twenty-one Cubans who made a bid for independence from their homeland made it to the United States just in time to spend July 4th in a Florida detention center.

The Cubans were picked up in Monroe County, south of Miami, shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday and charged with entering the country illegally.

U.S. Border Patrol Assistant Chief Agent Keith Roberts told CNN the seven men, women, four boys and four girls appeared to be in good health after coming ashore on Colony Beach. He said they were being held at a Dade County detention center and would remain there until an immigration judge decides whether or not they should be deported.

Roberts said it has not yet been determined if they were smuggled in or came on their own.

Last week, six Cubans in a rowboat trying to make it to a beach north of Miami were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard. All six refugees have been granted asylum by the U.S. State Department, despite the fact that only two of them made it to shore.

Under U.S. policy, Cubans who reach U.S. shores are allowed to stay and eventually get work permits. If taken into custody at sea, however -- even a few yards offshore -- U.S. officials usually return any refugees to Cuba.

The Coast Guard's apprehension of the Cubans, broadcast on local television Tuesday, set off protests against the Cubans' treatment. The Coast Guard had turned water hoses on those trying to avoid capture, and its officers are investigating an incident that left one of the refugees hit with pepper spray.

The U.S. Border Patrol believes the men were part of a smuggling operation because they gave numerous, inconsistent stories and showed little of the physical signs seen in others who have tried to make the 100-mile rowing trip -- including extensive sunburns and dehydration.

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