Although the Florida Keys have been an entry point for Cuban refugees since the 1960s, officials say the influx of migrants by boat represents a shift in migration patterns. Since the start of the year, more than 800 Haitians have landed there.
Migrants rest on the seawall after a sailboat from Haiti ran aground in Summerland Key, Fla., on March 14.
The landing, one of four major migrant arrivals in the Florida Keys since January, represents the latest challenge for federal and local authorities trying to control the flow of undocumented immigrants entering the United States.since the 1960s, officials say the influx of migrants by boat represents a shift in migration patterns.
“We are adapting our posture to respond to that,” said Chamie, noting the Coast Guard is adding patrol boats and surveillance flights near the Florida Keys.taking to the sea to reach the United States, a trend that some advocates say could accelerate in the coming weeks,That influx has concerned local residents and officials, who say the administration isn’t doing enough to address the issue.
“I have not seen my wife for five years, because the risk is too great,” he said. “Even if they see you with a small gold chain, someone will shoot you.” “Their faces had the look of exhaustion, fatigue and gratitude at the same time,” Barraclough said. “It was just a solemn sense of relief that they had made it.”Barraclough’s employer — 95-year-old Gilbert Seveneant, whose family once operated two now-shuttered French restaurants in Manhattan, Café Brittany and Brittany du Soir — spoke to some of the migrants in French.
Coast Guard officials said 90 percent of Haitian migrant vessels are intercepted at sea. “There really is a lot of water out there,” Chamie said. “So, while we at the Coast Guard, along with several other partners, are trying to identify, intercept and interdict those vessels as they are heading north, there is so much area to cover.”
Sixteen at the time, Nunez boarded a Cuban shrimp boat along with his brother and 200 others for a journey across the Straits of Florida to Key West. The journey terrified him, even though it only took a day. He thinks about how anguished the Haitian migrants had to be during their 7-to-10-day journey.
The retired electrician does not like Biden, and believes he is allowing undocumented immigrants to stream across the Mexican border. But Januik doesn’t see the Haitian migrant ships as a major U.S. policy challenge. Januik, an avid boater and wind surfer, does not believe that most Haitian vessels can make it to the Florida Keys without capsizing.
In a statement, the CBP’s Miami office said it uses a “layered enforcement approach” that includes working closely with the Coast Guard, Homeland Security Investigations and local law enforcement agencies to “secure the Florida Keys.” The agency also plans to expand “intelligence techniques” to further disrupt undocumented immigration.