MORNING BECOMES ESTEFAN

05/03/1999 at 12:00 AM EDT

The morning after Gloria Estefan performed at the Super Bowl halftime show, her husband, record-producer and manager Emilio Estefan, was jogging on trendy South Beach when he happened upon 11 men coming ashore in a crude handmade boat, the Associated Press reports. "I saw them come in and I saw them crying, " said Mr. Estefan, who, like his wife, was born in Cuba, "and when they touched down, they were so cold I brought them a little Cuban coffee just to welcome them to the land of freedom. I'm very happy that they're here." U.S. Border Patrol took the men into custody. The Cubans told authorities they left their homeland last week aboard the 15-foot wooden vessel, which was powered by a diesel engine.