Coast Guard stops boat with nearly 400 Haitians off Bahamas, likely headed to Florida
MIAMI - A boat carrying 396 Haitian migrants was detained by the U.S. Coast Guard near the Bahamas in one of the biggest human smuggling incidents in the region, Bahamian officials said.
U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Nicole Groll said Monday that the interdiction happened Saturday afternoon and involved a 50-foot boat.
"It was grossly overloaded and very much unsafe," she said
The migrants were detained close to the far-flung Cay Sal island located between Florida and Cuba.
Immigration officials said the migrants will be processed on the Bahamian island of Inagua and later repatriated.
Thousands of Haitians are fleeing a spike in gang violence and deepening political instability in a country that currently has no democratically elected institutions.
Many travel to the Bahamas and other nearby islands in hopes of eventually reaching Florida. The voyages are often deadly, with migrants crowding into makeshift vessels that have capsized in recent months.
The exodus comes as the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden recently announced that it would start turning back Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans at the Texas border who arrive illegally. The administration is now offering humanitarian parole for 30,000 people a month from those countries if they secure a financial sponsor, apply online and pay their airfare.