SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico– The United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agency says it has detained 60 Haitian migrants after they disembarked here over the last weekend.
“People who venture to sea to enter the United States illegally not only expose themselves to being victims of smuggling organizations, but they also risk the lives of the law enforcement men and women who rescue them,” said Scott Garrett, Action Chief Patrol Agent for Ramey Sector in Puerto Rico.A group of Haitians awaiting processing in Puerto Rico
CBP said Ramey Station Border Patrol agents and personnel from the Puerto Rico Police Department discovered a makeshift “yola” type vessel making entry into Combate Beach.
CBP said the Border Patrol agents encountered 60 non-citizens claiming to be from Haiti and one Dominican Republic national on arrival in the area.
“Agents transported the group to the Ramey Station for immigration processing and removal,” CBP said.
One week ago, Border Patrol agents detained 59 Haitians disembarking in Rincon, Puerto Rico. On Monday, the US Coast Guard said it had transferred 62 Haitians to Bahamian authorities after rescuing them in Bahamian waters.
“If not for our cutters and aircraft patrolling these waters, the outcomes of those voyages may have been far different,” said Lieutenant Connor Ives, a Coast Guard District Seven enforcement officer. “There is no greater mission than to safeguard lives at sea.”
Since October 1, last year, the US Coast Guard said it had intercepted 4,237 Haitian migrants seeking to enter the country illegally.
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