The Coast Guard on Tuesday repatriated 52 migrants from Haiti and the Dominican Republic after their attempts to reach the U.S. mainland in a rickety 30-foot “makeshift boat” were thwarted, officials said.
A Coast Guard Ocean Sentry plane spotted the rickety vessel Saturday night while patrolling just 44 miles off the coast of Mona Island, Puerto Rico, and sent Coast Guard Officer Joseph Texano to intercept the vessel. the enforcement agency said in a press release..
maritime immigration – 51 Dominicans, 1 Haitian – They were turned over to federal immigration authorities and deported to their home countries, the agency said.
“The success of this interdiction was due to the quick response and professionalism of the Coat Guard troops and observers,” Lt. Col. Edward Kunigonis said in a statement.
“These voyages continue to threaten the safety of migrants, many of whom do not fully realize how dangerous these voyages are until it is too late,” said Kunigonis, executive officer of the Coast Guard’s Puerto Rico and San Juan Division. he said.
“We strongly advise anyone considering taking part in illegal maritime migration voyages not to go to sea,” he added. “Please use legal channels.”
The area between Puerto Rico and Hispaniola has been a busy area for the Coast Guard over the past few years.
From October 1st to April 30th alone, 35 illegal immigrant boats were seized in the Mona Pass. – stretch between two islands – and deported 1,199 illegal immigrants.
Of those, 1,141 were from the Dominican Republic, 57 from Haiti and one from Venezuela.
Officials announced last month that three suspected gangsters involved in a mass shooting in Puerto Rico in 2020 that killed four people were placed on a ship bound for the United States.
The Coast Guard detached three vessels and detained 101 illegal immigrants in just one weekend in early April, the agency reported.
Authorities said one of the vessels was a “grossly overloaded makeshift vessel.”
