More Cuban migrants heading to U.S. shores, fearing policy change

Cubans Try To Defect In 1951 Chevy Truck

AT SEA - JULY 24: In this U.S. Coast Guard handout, Cuban migrants trying to reach the U.S. coast in Florida ride a makeshift boat made out of a 1951 Chevrolet truck with a propeller driven off the drive shaft July 16, 2003 off the coast of Florida. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo returned the12 Cuban migrants from the vessel back to Cuba after making it within 40 miles of Key West, Florida. The photograph was released a week after the crew was repatriated. (Photo by Gregory Ewald/ U.S. Coast Guard/ Getty Images)

Photograph by U.S. Coast Guard/Getty Images

More Cubans have tried to make it to American shores so far this year compared to 2014, even after the U.S. restored diplomatic ties with the island nation, the Associated Press reports.

Now that the two countries have reestablished diplomatic relations, many migrants worry that the U.S. will change its long-standing rule that allows Cubans that reach American soil to remain there and move toward citizenship—a perk unique to Cuban immigrants.

So far this fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, more than 4,000 illegal Cuban migrants have been found in the seas between Cuba and the U.S. That’s already more than the 3,731 Cubans intercepted in 2014.

Those caught at sea are typically sent back to Cuba.