Cubans who escaped by motorized hang glider from ICE custody and are facing deportation proceedings

David López Alfonso and Ismael Hernández Chirin, the Cuban pilots who escaped from Cuba aboard a motorized hang glider, are being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and face deportation proceedings.

This was reported by U.S. Border Patrol Chief Agent in the Miami Sector, Walter N. Slosar, via Twitter.

In a March 30 update, the government agency official wrote: "Both individuals were interviewed, processed for deportation, and detained by ICE. The aircraft will be seized by federal authorities."

The Cubans they arrived to Key West International Airport in Florida, on March 25, using a “motorized Hang Glider, identified as an ultralight aviation equipment, of the “Trike” type, as the Cuban Aviation Club later specified.

Initially, journalist Alexis Boentes reported that "they could be taken to a detention center and would have to defend an asylum case to avoid deportation."

En interview with the channel 51 TelemundoThe sister of one of the pilots, Ismael Hernández Chirino, stated that "they did not know what the two had planned in advance and also asked that they not be returned to Cuba, as nothing good would await them."

INCREDIBLE ESCAPE: TWO CUBANS ARRIVE IN FLORIDA BY MOTORIZED HANG GLIDER

David and Ismael worked in the Playas del Este tourist resort in Havana.

The Cuban Aviation Club denounced the incident and conveyed to the relevant international authorities "its disagreement with events such as these and requests that these individuals be subject to the sanctions appropriate to the severity of the case and that the stolen equipment be returned."

They considered the incident a “robbery” and called the pilots “deserters.”