United States repatriates Haitian, Cuban migrants

The United States Coast Guard repatriated a number of Haitian and Cuban migrants over the past weekend.

The Coast Guard said 86 Haitian migrants were repatriated on Saturday to Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, while on Sunday, 36 Cuban migrants were returned to Cabañas, Cuba.

Dangerously overloaded vessel

“This illegal migrant venture and vessel were ill-equipped to carry its passengers and dangerously overloaded. If it had capsized before we arrived on scene, this situation could have ended differently as we have tragically seen before,” said Commander Luis Rodriguez, deputy chief of enforcement, following the activities at sea over the last weekend.

Lt. Cmdr. James Hodges, a Coast Guard 7th District law enforcement duty officer, said that many times, these vessels interdicted are overloaded and unsafe, and the risk simply isn’t worth the possible reward.

“The combined efforts of the Charles Sexton and William Trump cutter crews led to this successful rescue mission, and I’m proud of everyone involved,” he added.

The Coast Guard said about 221 Haitian migrants have attempted to illegally migrate to the US via the maritime environment since October 1 compared to 2,488 Haitian migrants in fiscal year 2018, while 82 Cuban migrants have attempted to illegally migrate the United States during the same period as compared to 296 Cuban migrants.