MIAMI -- A federal judge hinted Thursday that he thinks the federal government may have erred when it repatriated this week 15 Cubans who had landed on an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno said he won't rule immediately on the emergency lawsuit filed on the Cubans' behalf by family members and an advocacy group seeking their return. But the judge did question the government's reasoning.

The government says it repatriated the Cubans because the bridge no longer connects to land. Under the government's "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay. Those interdicted at sea are returned to the communist island.

Even if it were ruled that the 15 Cubans could return, it is highly unlikely Cuban President Fidel Castro would permit it.

The group included a 2-year-old and a 13-year-old. They left Matanzas Province in Cuba late on the night of Jan. 2 aboard a small, homemade boat. The group landed on the bridge piling on Jan. 4.

The next hearing is set for Feb. 15.