MIAMI — The Coast Guard interdicted 146 Haitian migrants Aug. 11 about 69 miles north of Isla De Tortue, Haiti, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release.
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter William Trump (WPC-1111) interdicted a 40-foot migrant sail freighter with 146 migrants aboard. The cutter crew safely embarked 120 males, 22 females and four minors.
“These illegal ventures attempting to immigrate to the United States in ill-equipped and severely overloaded vessels are extremely dangerous, especially during the hurricane season, when weather and sea conditions can rapidly change in minutes, putting migrants in danger of being lost at sea,” said Capt. Jason Ryan, chief of the enforcement branch of the Coast Guard 7th District.
“The Coast Guard and our partner agencies coordinate efforts to interdict and stop these unlawful migration attempts into the United States. Migrants caught attempting to gain access into the U.S. through these dangerously illegal undertakings at sea will be repatriated to their country in accordance with existing U.S. immigration policy.”
The William Trump crew met the Coast Guard Cutter Resolute (WMEC-620) and safely transferred the migrants to the Resolute’s crew, who repatriated the migrants to their country of origin on Aug. 13.
A total of 3,414 Haitian migrants have tried to illegally enter the United States by sea in fiscal year 2019, compared to 2,727 in fiscal 2018. These numbers represent the total number of at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean.
