U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says five Haitian nationals were among 42 migrants apprehended after an “unlawful migration voyage vessel” landed on Survival Beach in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, last week.
The group also included 33 nationals from the Dominican Republic and one Ecuadorian, according to CBP. Officials said the migrants were taken into custody after the vessel reached shore in a rocky and remote area of the island’s northwestern coast.
CBP, working alongside a U.S. Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk aircrew, Coast Guard Base Borinquen personnel, and local responders, carried out medical evacuations for several migrants who required urgent assistance upon landing.
Emergency Medical Services transported five individuals to a local hospital for treatment. Authorities said two of the migrants were initially unresponsive, while another suffered a leg injury.
According to CBP, Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan were alerted by Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action after a roughly 30-foot vessel was spotted approaching the Aguadilla shoreline early Wednesday morning.
Because of the vessel’s overloaded condition and the hazardous rocky terrain, a Coast Guard aircrew was deployed to assist. A rescue swimmer was lowered to the beach area, where they worked with Border Patrol agents to stabilize and extract one of the unresponsive migrants using a rescue litter hoist system.
Officials said all passengers were accounted for after landfall, and no individuals were found in the water.
CBP described the incident as part of ongoing maritime enforcement efforts targeting irregular migration routes through the Caribbean, where overloaded and makeshift vessels frequently attempt risky crossings toward Puerto Rico.
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