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UPPER KEYS WEEKLY / MARCH 10, 2022
NUMBER OF THE WEEK
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According to a Bloomberg report, Marathon Petroleum Corp. was the top U.S. buyer of Russian crude in 2021 at 13.9 million barrels. Valero bought 13.1 million barrels, while Monroe Energy bought 10.7 million barrels. On March 9, President Biden announced a ban on imports of Russian oil. Gas prices are averaging $4.19 and may increase in the days to come.
ON THE COVER Colin Kilmurray delivers a pitch during the Upper Keys Little League baseball game between the Yankees and Brewers at Key Largo Park on March 5. JIM McCARTHY/Keys Weekly
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BOAT CARRYING 356 HAITIAN MIGRANTS RUNS AGROUND
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All who made the journey will likely be transported back to home country JIM McCARTHY
jim@keysweekly.com
A
harrowing scene unfolded as 158 Haitian migrants jumped off a grounded boat, swimming to shore roughly 200 yards away from Ocean Reef Club in North Key Largo on March 6. But 198 more remained on the 50-foot boat as various agencies responded to the rescue. It’s one of the larger migrant landings seen by officials in recent memory. Chief Border Patrol Agent Walter Slosar said via statement that there were no serious injuries or deaths. “The coordinated and timely response of the U.S. Border Patrol and our federal, state and local partners potentially saved the lives of these migrants,” he said. Many residents on land inside the gated community in North Key Largo watched as the U.S. Coast Guard, CBP, Florida Fish & Wildlife, Monroe County and Miami-Dade sheriffs, Ocean Reef Fire Rescue and other agencies arrived at what one official called a “chaotic scene.” “The decks clear as they swim in and then more come up from below and the decks fill again,” said one lo-
cal resident who videorecorded the grounding. All 158 Haitian migrants rescued from the water were taken into U.S. Border Patrol custody. They will be interviewed and processed for removal proceedings, CBP said. An additional 198 migrants who remained onboard the vessel were safely removed from the vessel. They were taken into custody by the U.S. Coast Guard where they remain on a cutter, pending repatriation to Haiti. "We worked seamlessly with our state and federal partners to safely remove all the persons from this vessel," U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jeffrey Randall said in a statement on March 7. "The Coast Guard and partner agencies are continuously patrolling the Mona Passage, Windward Passage, Caribbean Sea and the approaches to the United States to stop these dangerous and unsafe voyages." Matt James, commander for U.S. Coast Guard Station Islamorada, handled the water side of the rescue. He said the rescue effort was complicated given the shallow water depth where the boat ran aground. “The boat was still pretty far off shore. It was a negative tide that night with a strong wind blowing in,” he said.
Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants received food, water, shelter and basic medical attention. The Coast Guard said migrants attempting to enter the United States illegally by sea can expect to be repatriated, regardless of their nationality. In a July 2021 article, the Washington Post quoted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: “Allow me to be clear, if you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States.” The article also states, “Migrants intercepted at sea will be returned on government ships to their homelands unless they establish a ‘well-founded fear of persecution or torture,’ Mayorkas said. In those cases, he said, the migrants will be referred to third countries for resettlement.” Jason Rafter, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation public information officer, said the migrant boat remains grounded just off Ocean Reef Club. He said a contractor will be hired to take the fuel and oil off the boat. “The vessel will stay put for now. Eventually it will become a derelict vessel by the state. It’ll go into the system,”
