Coast Guard sends 29 Haitians home after pulling them off boat near Puerto Rico
Just two days after a group of 176 Haitians came ashore in the Florida Keys and a week after the International Organization for Migration reported that the U.S. has sent 13,320 Haitians back to Haiti onboard 125 Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter flights since mid-September, another 29 Haitians were repatriated home.
According to The Coast Guard, its Cutter Reliance repatriated 29 Haitians to Cap-Haïtien on Tuesday after they were found on a 25-foot makeshift boat in the Mona Passage near Puerto Rico on Jan. 4.
“The persons in this voyage are fortunate to have been safely removed from this grossly overloaded vessel,” said Lt. Evan Wilcox, Sector San Juan enforcement, in a media release. “This makeshift vessel could have easily capsized due to the dangerous sea states in the Mona Passage, especially during this time of the year.”
The group — 22 men, one of whom was an Ecuadorian who is now awaiting deportation by U.S. Border Patrol authorities in Puerto Rico, and eight women — were found aboard the boat by an aircrew of a Customs and Border Protection Marine Enforcement Aircraft on Jan. 4.
The aircrew, on a routine patrol, saw the migrants about 27 nautical miles northwest of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The 154-foot fast response Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon, which is based in Pensacola, interdicted the 25-foot boat. The cutter’s crew was able to safely remove the 30 people who were onboard, according to the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard has recently started a promotional campaign to warn of the dangers of attempting sea voyages aboard makeshift boats.
“You are not just putting your life and the life of everyone else in the voyage at risk, but if interdicted, you also risk prosecution and being returned to your country of origin,” Wilcox said in a statement.
Family members in the United States who want information about possible family members who may have been interdicted at sea are asked to contact their local U.S. representative, the Coast Guard said. Relatives outside the United States should contact their local U.S. Embassy.
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 5:27 PM.
