A total of 979 illegal migrants have been sent back to Cuba from neighboring countries this year, including 680 who were returned after a new U.S. immigration policy took effect in mid-January, said media reports on Friday.

So far, 115 Cubans have been returned directly from the United States and 246 were deported from Mexico since Jan. 12, when Washington ended the "wet-foot/dry-foot" policy for Cuban immigrants, said media reports citing an official release from the Cuban government.

There were also Cubans who were deported from the Bahamas and other countries in the Central American region.

On Jan. 12, then U.S. President Barack Obama ended a long-standing policy that granted residency to Cubans who arrived in the United States without visas.

Known as the "wet-foot/dry-foot" policy, the special U.S. immigration treatment for Cuba has been in place for around 22 years.

After the new policy came into effect, thousands of Cubans have been stranded in the countries in Central America and the Caribbean in their attempt to reach U.S. soil.

U.S. President Donald Trump has not made any statement regarding the new policy, only saying that his administration is reviewing the thawing ties with Cuba.

The United States has pledged to grant at least 20,000 visas for Cubans every year to come to the country legally.

Source: Xinhua