The United States Border Patrol is detaining a group of 22 Haitians who arrived on the coast of Palm Beach, in southern Florida, the federal agency reported Friday.
In a post on Twitter, the Border Patrol’s Miami office announced that earlier today officials from the agency, along with members of government agencies, responded “to a maritime smuggling event that landed on a nearby ship from Palm Beach.”
The 22 immigrants from Haiti were on board a boat that was about 7.5 meters long and, according to authorities, was found on the border between Palm Beach and the Lake Worth pier.
The Border Patrol reported searching by land and sea in the area where the immigrants were found to find out if more were involved in the operation.
That same month, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a boat carrying 25 Haitians, including seven minors, off the coast of Florida after calling for help while they were about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Jupiter, in southeastern Florida. .
According to the Coast Guard, 181 Haitians intending to reach the Florida coast have been detained since October 1, 2020, while 418 migrants from that country were detained in fiscal year 2020, that is, October 1, 2019 to October 30, 2020.
These numbers represent the total number of interceptions in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean and the Florida Strait.
Haiti is currently experiencing a deep political crisis that worsened on February 7, with the indictment of the coup and the arrest of some 20 opponents involved in the alleged plot.