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More than 100 Haitian migrants were taken into custody after their sailboat ran aground off the Florida Keys, authorities said Tuesday.
The boat ran aground off Summerland Key, Florida, shortly after 11:30 a.m. Monday, Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
The 123 migrants who were crammed on board were able to swim to safety, the agency said, adding that several needed to be treated for dehydration once ashore.
The group said it had left La Tortue Island, Haiti, on March 9.
Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar said the migrants would be detained and processed for removal.
“While on scene, I witnessed the great work being done to ensure the safety of these migrants whose lives were put at risk by smugglers,” Slosar said.
The migrants were taken to Marathon and Dania Beach Border Patrol Stations, and are expected to be turned over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
“People smuggling” from Haiti to the shores of the Sunshine State is soaring and outpacing last year’s migration numbers.
The Coast Guard reported 1,193 encounters at sea with Haitians since the fiscal year began in Oct. 1, while 1,527 Haitian migrants were encountered the year before. That’s up largely from fiscal years 2019 and 2020, when 932 and 418 Haitian migrants were encountered at sea, respectively, according the agency.
In January, the US Coast Guard reported it intercepted a boat with 176 Haitian migrants aboard before it reached the Florida Keys.
The US deported an estimated 18,000 captured migrants back to Haiti in recent months, the Associated Press reported — while the Dominican Republic, which shares an island with Haiti, sent another 10,000 back across the border.
The waves of migrants comes as Haiti faces political and economic turmoil, including fuel shortages and gang-driven violence, according to a UN Security Council report filed in mid-February. The instability has driven civil unrest in the nation of 11 million people.
“The actions of these armed criminal groups have had a catastrophic impact on the economy of Haiti and threaten the rights of all Haitian citizens, especially their rights to life, freedom of movement, health care and education,” the UN report said.
Kidnappings are up 180 percent year-over-year in Haiti, with homicides up by 17 percent, the report said. More than 500 people were killed between September and December, including 40 women and children as young as 5 years old, the report said.
With Post wires
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