A battered boat crammed with 99 Haitian immigrants was cut off trying to reach US shores — with the illegal migrants shipped back to the Caribbean nation, Coast Guard officials said.
The rickety, overloaded 35-foot boat was intercepted Thursday, with the Haitians then given food, water, shelter and medical attention before they were sent packing on Tuesday, the agency said.
“The Coast Guard remains steadfast in our defense of the US maritime borders and approaches with patrols in the Florida Straits, Windward and Mona Passages to interdict unlawful maritime migration attempts before they reach our shores,” Lt. Cmdr. Brent Pearson, Coast Guard liaison officer to US Embassy Port-au-Prince said in a statement.
Read also:Montana Jordan Salary
“Attempting illegal migration in overloaded, unsafe vessels with no safety equipment is extremely dangerous and puts you and your loved one’s lives at risk. Don’t take to the sea just to be sent back.”
Photos released by the Coast Guard show the boat barely staying afloat about 35 miles off the coast of Cap-Haitien in Haiti, with the migrants spilling over the side of the vessel.
The boat was spotted heading north in the direction of the British-owned Turks and Caicos Islands.
US Coast Guard cutters, choppers and airplanes have stepped up patrols in the Florida Straits and surrounding waters to adhere with President Trump’s war on illegal immigration.
So far this fiscal year, 412 Haitians have been shipped back home, compared to 857 for the entire 2024 fiscal year, officials said. Federal fiscal years run from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.
