U.S. Coast Guard Detains Nearly 400 Haitian Illegals Crammed on 50-Foot Boat

The U.S. Coast Guard Bahamian officials claimed that Saturday’s arrest of a boat 50 feet long, packed with almost 400 Haitian migrants, near the Bahamas was the result of one the biggest human smuggling operations in the region.

Near the Cay Sal Bank, an isolated island between Florida and Cuba, 396 migrants were captured. Bahamian Department of Immigration Sunday night.

Nicole Groll, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), described the dangers aboard the vessel to the Associated Press, Monday.

“It was grossly overloaded and very much unsafe,” She spoke.

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Officials from Bahamian said that they would be processed on Inagua, a Bahamian island. They will then be repatriated to Haiti.

Officials could not immediately give more details.

It was most likely that the boat carried hundreds of migrants to the Florida Keys, The Miami Herald reported the story, citing multiple sources.

A Coast Guard plane patrols Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas, during a search to find migrants, Friday January 20, 2023.
(AP Photo / Lynne Slodky / File

In recent months, the island chain was hit by a large influx of migrants trying to reach it by boat.

Many Haitians flee gang violence and political instability that has risen in Haiti, a country with a high number of gangs. no democratically elected institutions.

Coast Guard personnel prepare an aeroplane for a patrol over the Florida Straits to search for migrants, Friday January 20, 2023 in Opa-locka Florida.
(AP Photo / Lynne Slodky / File

Many tourists travel to the Bahamas, and other islands nearby in hopes of one day reaching Florida. Many migrants are forced to board makeshift boats that have sunk in recent months, making the voyages dangerous.

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The USCG intercepted more than 2,000 Haitians and 5,180 Cubans who were migrating by boat since October 1, the paper reported.

As the Biden administration announced recently that it will begin turning back Cubans as well as Nicaraguans, Haitians and Venezuelans at the same time, the exodus follows. Texas border who arrive illegally. 

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Now, the administration offers humanitarian parole for 30,000 persons a month from these countries if they apply online for financial sponsorship and pay their airfare.

This report was contributed by The Associated Press.

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