Two of seven Jamaicans held on boat in Florida to be deported
Published:Thursday | July 15, 2021 | 11:55 AM
Lester Hinds, Gleaner Writer
Deportation orders have been issued for two of the seven Jamaicans who were held trying to illegally enter the United States when the boat they were travelling in crashed in Florida last month.
The two are being processed by the United States Border Patrol at the Chrome detention centre.
The five other Jamaicans remain in custody and are being processed at different facilities in Florida.
The two facing deportation are expected to be repatriated later this month, according to highly-placed sources at the centre.
The Jamaicans were among some 17 people, including nationals from Haiti, Bahamas, Venezuela and Romania, on a boat that almost ran aground in Pompana Beach in the Broward County area in Florida in June.
It was reported that the boat left the Bahamas for Florida.
It was further reported that the Jamaicans flew to the Bahamas from Jamaica to link up with the boat, reportedly paying US$5,000 each to be smuggled into the US.
Law enforcement officials acknowledged that the trip to the Bahamas by the smugglers has become the preferred route to get people into the US illegally.
According to reports, the boat carrying the migrants arrived onshore near the 2800 block of Atlantic Boulevard near 28th Avenue on the inter-coastal waterway and deputies were called to the area.
It hit the quay after being shadowed by US Border Patrol using both a boat and a helicopter.
A highly-placed official told The Gleaner that this is not the first such incident.
He said that people are looking for unconventional ways to enter the US.
“This is being highlighted because it made the news but there have been other incidents which have flown under the radar,” the official said.
According to Homeland Security department sources, Border Patrol agents have stepped up monitoring of the various means by which people in the Caribbean are seeking to enter the US through unconventional ways.
It is strongly suspected in law enforcement circles that the migrants paid to be brought to America and were not trafficked.
The investigation is ongoing and officials at the Jamaican consulate in Miami are monitoring the situation.
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