A group of Cuban migrants traveling in a wooden raft arrived in south Florida and asked beachgoers for directions to Miami Beach, Fox 29 reports.

Eyewitnesses claimed that a group of men climbed out of their boat and walked on the beach in celebration of their arrival on U.S. soil.

"They were like kissing the ground and celebrating," Dylan Holland, who works on the beach, told WSVN. "They came over to us. They high-fived us, and we gave them water."

The boat washed ashore in Hallandale Beach, which is located in southern Broward County, just north of Miami-Dade, around 9 a.m. on Tuesday. 

Another witness, Martina Nintzu, who was visiting from Argentina, said that the men asked if they were in Miami and then went on their way.

“They were very happy. They were laughing the whole time,” she said."They just, they asked the guy from the hotel, ‘Where are we?’ and he said, ‘We’re in Miami, in Hallandale. They were like, ‘OK, so how far away is Miami Beach?’ and they said like an hour that way, and they grabbed some water, and they just left."

Business owners located on the beach said that the men told them they were from Cuba and that they had been traveling on the boat for six days.

By the time border patrol and the police arrived on the scene 30 minutes later, the men were already gone. Authorities described the group’s arrival on the beach as a “suspected maritime smuggling event.” 

Despite authorities saying the men came to the U.S. with illegal intentions, some beachgoers such as Carmen Bush, who saw the boat when it arrived, believed that the men were in pursuit of a better life and were willing to risk everything to make it to America.

“Definitely about a better life,” Bush said. “I mean, you can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it here. There, you can’t. It doesn’t matter how hard you work.”

As the men made their way to south Florida from their native country, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced on Tuesday that those trying to reach the U.S. by sea will be sent back to their home countries by the Coast Guard. 

"Allow me to be clear: if you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States," Mayorkas said."If individuals make, establish a well-founded fear of persecution or torture, they are referred to third countries for resettlement. They will not enter the United States,” he continued

After the events in Florida, the boat that the men used to travel was removed from the shore.

Miami BeachMiami-Dade