(ConservativeJournal.org) – The Coast Guard rescued and repatriated a few hundred Haitian and Bahamian nationals who had attempted to enter the United States using overcrowded boats in early June.
Just over 300 were arrested by the Coast Guard and charged with unlawful migration over water. The arrests are part of an annual initiative titled Operation Vigilant Sentry where American forces rescue and return migrants attempting to enter the country using boats and waterways. Typically these migrations are incredibly unsafe with overcrowded boats.
President Joe Biden signed a controversial immigration policy change on June 4 which prohibits illegal immigration. Many have highlighted that Biden suddenly acknowledged the border crisis and appeared to take actions to curb it after years of cultivating the problem, but just a few months before the general election.
Coast Guard Enforcement Officer Lt. Nick Fujimoto highlighted the extreme danger of oversea migration. He added that their mission is one part rescue and one part enforcement. He also suggested that marine migration will be more dangerous as we enter Hurricane season, which began on June 1.
The Coast Guard Cutter Thetis returned 196 people to Haiti on Monday, June 10. The migrants were intercepted at sea in two separate boats on Wednesday and Thursday the week prior. An additional 109 illegal aliens were captured by the Coast Guard Cutter Richard Etheridge and Cutter Raymond Evans and returned to the Bahamas on June 9.
Operation Vigilant Sentr (OVS) is a multi-agency federal program intent on monitoring and fast responses to incidents of marine migration from Caribbean nations. The Homeland Security office described the program as dual purpose: protect human life at sea and deter illegal migration.
During fiscal year 2023, the program intercepted nearly 12,000 illegal aliens.
The problem has been exacerbated by an outbreak of violence and collapse of the government in Haiti. Violent militia or criminal gangs control nearly 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince and estimates have suggested roughly 90,000 people have fled the country.
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