7 minute read
What’s next for the 300-plus Haitians
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Aharrowing 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 local 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,”
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
BOAT CARRYING 356 HAITIAN MIGRANTS RUNS AGROUND
All who made the journey will likely be transported back to home country
JIM McCARTHY
jim@keysweekly.com
Rafter said. “It’s possible we can come up with a solution. For right now, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Migrant landings in the Florida Keys are rising to the point where it drew a meeting recently between Monroe County Emergency Management and Ocean Reef Community Association officials. Some 18 agencies from the local, state and federal levels attended to discuss the uptick.
In January, CBP and the Coast Guard responded to a migrant landing on the water near Ocean Reef. A total of 176 migrants were rescued from an overloaded sailboat. The vessel was initially detected by a Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations flight crew some 25 miles northeast of Anguilla Cay, Bahamas. Sector Key West watchstanders diverted Coast Guard Cutter Paul Clark’s crew to the location of the vessel. Ten migrants were reportedly hospitalized. Migrants faced 4- to 6-foot seas and 20-mph winds.
“It is extremely dangerous to navigate the Florida Straits in an unseaworthy vessel, especially off the Florida Keys where the water is extra treacherous with shoals and reefs,” said U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer James Kinney, command duty officer at Sector Key West.
Last December, more than 50 Haitians landed on Card Sound Road in Key Largo. Months before that, 42 Haitian immigrants were found in what was called a “maritime human smuggling” case near Key Biscayne in August.
In Haiti, worker protests erupted in recent weeks, leading to confrontations with police. One protest on Feb. 23 led Haitian police to open fire on demonstrators who were demanding higher wages, according to a report by Reuters. Haiti upped the minimum wage by more than 50% following demonstrations by clothes workers voicing concern over rising living costs.
According to the nonprofit Haiti Partners, 59% of the population lives on less than $2 per day. The gross national income per capita is $1,730. The average for Caribbean/Latin American developing countries is $14,098.
The recent assasination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise on July 7, 2021, a rise in gang violence since June 2021 that’s affected 1.5 million people and a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in August that struck southwest Haiti have exacerbated issues inside the impoverished country. On top of that, the country experienced a direct hit from Tropical Depression Grace in August.
Coast Guard crews in the district covering Florida have rescued 1,152 Haitians since Oct. 1, 2021. It’s on track to surpass the 1,527 Haitian migrants rescued in fiscal year 2021, which spanned Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021.
Agencies assisting with the rescue included: U.S Coast Guard Station Islamorada, Station Miami Beach, Station Marathon and Air Station Miami; U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Robert Yered, Cutter William Trump and Cutter Venturous; U.S. Border Patrol; Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations; Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; Monroe County Sheriff’s Office; Miami-Dade Fire Rescue; and Biscayne National Park Service.
1. A Florida FIsh & Wildlife Conservation boat gets near the boat that ran aground with 356 Haitian migrants onboard. JASON RAFTER/Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation
2. A Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office boat nears a grounded boat that carried 350-plus Haitian migrants. CONTRIBUTED
3. A large boat containing 356 Haitian migrants runs aground near Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo on Sunday. JASON RAFTER/Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation
4. Haitian migrants making it to shore at Buccaneer Point inside Ocean Reef Club are given towels as they’re checked out by fire rescuers. CONTRIBUTED
U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer James Kinney,
