The doctors were held despite having prior clearance to enter the United States.
Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack had been pushing for the release of David Gonzalez-Mejias and Marialis Darias-Mesa.
Gonzalez-Mejias and Darias-Mesa had been kept in custody in the Bahamas since April 2005. A boat carrying them and 16 other Cuban migrants, including their family members, stalled in Bahamian waters. The group was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard and handed over to the Bahamians, who have an agreement with Cuba calling for repatriation of Cuban nationals.
The families of Gonzalez-Mejias and Darias-Mesa were at Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to meet them Tuesday evening. Their families were permitted to leave the Bahamas and settled in Cape Coral and Tampa.
Family members said the men decided to flee Cuba after the government of President Fidel Castro repeatedly refused to let them leave for the United States.
