The US Coast Guard returned 177 Cuban immigrants caught at sea off the coast of Florida to their country on Thursday, as Border Patrol agents also apprehended 25 Haitians in Virginia Key, a small island just southeast of downtown Miami.
The Cuban immigrants were reportedly discovered off the coast earlier this January and have now finally been returned home by the Coast Guard. On the other hand, the Haitians reportedly traveled by sailboat from Port-de-Paix, Haiti.
US Coast Guard returns 273 migrants intercepted off Florida coast to Cuba https://t.co/qeGLmrf1h1 pic.twitter.com/aZVd6kYu0u
— KAKE News (@KAKEnews) January 9, 2023
Some of these travelers required the help of good citizens with small boats and jet skis to ferry them ashore. The many others were still in transit and on the sailboat when they were processed by federal officials at sea, with everything suggesting their repatriation to their country.
Florida has recently experienced a massive increase in immigrants trying to find their way to the state’s shores from Caribbean nations. In early 2023, reports reveal that over 12,000 immigrants have been apprehended and taken into custody by federal authorities over five months.
According to data provided by the Homeland Security Task Force Southeast, a federal initiative that tracks Coast Guard and Border Patrol encounters, these people have been intercepted on sea or after arriving at the shores.
Republicans and Democrats have blasted President Biden for the recent surge in immigrant travel, blaming his immigration strategies for the mass entry into the Sunshine State.
Since President Biden was sworn into office, the number of illegal crossings at the border has hit unprecedented levels. Over 300,000 immigrants crossed the border in the 2020 fiscal year. That number increased to 2.1 million and 2.4 million in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Biden, who has made public his 2024 reelection plans, is dealing with the political and operational backdrop of two consecutive years of high numbers of migrants taken into custody by border patrol.
Those who opposed former President Donald Trump’s Administration and breathed a sigh of relief when Biden won the White House in 2020 are finally waking up to see the impending dangers of Biden’s policies, especially regarding immigration.
