CGC Legate Repatriates 323 Haitian Migrants
The Coast Guard repatriated 323 Haitian migrants to Cap Haitien, Haiti after being interdicted during two separate cases since Friday. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Legare interdicted a grossly overloaded 40-foot sail freighter carrying 164 Haitian migrants about eight miles south of Great Inagua, Bahamas, Friday. The migrants were provided with life jackets and all were embarked aboard the cutter without incident. Two days later, the Legare crew spotted an overloaded sail freighter carrying 159 Haitian migrants about 33 miles west of Great Inagua. The Legare crew distributed life jackets and embarked all 159 migrants without incident.
“The Coast Guard continues to station cutters and aircraft off the coast of Haiti to deter illegal migration and to interdict and rescue those who attempt to depart on these unsafe vessels and dangerous voyages,” said Capt. Steven Banks, Seventh Coast Guard District chief of enforcement.
Once aboard Coast Guard cutters, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical care.
The operations since Friday were the largest interceptions at sea of would-be migrants from the poor Caribbean state since it was devastated by an earthquake on January 12 that wrecked the capital Port-au-Prince and killed up to 300,000 people.
Filed Under: Alien & Migrant Interdiction • News
