Coast Guard picks up Haitians at sea

MIAMI — More than 100 Haitians who were attempting to leave the island aboard an overloaded 40-foot boat were apprehended at sea and repatriated Tuesday by the U.S. Coast Guard.

According to the Coast Guard unit in Miami, the cutter Resolute’s crew sent back 110 Haitians who were crammed aboard a wooden vessel.

The Haitians, wearing red and yellow life jackets, were stopped about 50 miles north of Cap-Haitien, Haiti, after a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew spotted them in the water. Resolute’s crew diverted and took the people aboard “out of abundance of caution for safety of life at sea,” the Coast Guard said.

“I could not be prouder of the crew for safely interdicting and deterring migrant ventures through coordinated efforts to enforce U.S and partner nation treaties and laws,” Cmdr. Justin Vanden Heuvel, commander of the Resolute, said in a statement. “Resolute’s crew was exceptional in ensuring safety of life at sea, as well as providing around-the-clock care for 110 guests and creating an atmosphere of compassion and dignity prior to repatriation.”

According to the Coast Guard, its crews have interdicted about 150 Haitian migrants in fiscal year 2021, which began Oct. 1, 2020. There were 418 Haitian migrants interdicted in fiscal year 2020 via at-sea interdictions, landings and other occurrences in the Florida Straits, Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, the Haitians received food, water, shelter and basic medical attention. Coast Guard crew members are equipped with personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic.