Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040

    60 Haitian migrants held captive by smugglers

    60 Haitian migrants held captive by smugglers

    By JONATHAN M. KATZ, The Associated Press
    7:20 p.m. May 28, 2009

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Armed smugglers interrupted a U.S. Coast Guard operation to remove illegal Haitian migrants from an overloaded boat, holding 60 of the passengers at gunpoint as they escaped authorities, the U.S. Embassy said Thursday.

    The Coast Guard cutter Venturous intercepted the smugglers' boat Monday near the Haitian barrier island of La Tortue and took on board 35 of the approximately 100 illegal passengers, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen, a Coast Guard spokesman.

    The 26 men and nine women apprehended were repatriated to Haiti on Wednesday, he added.

    But six armed smugglers threatened other passengers and prevented them from getting on the Coast Guard ship, instead fleeing with them aboard the vessel in shallow water.

    Ameen said the cutter tried to pursue the migrant-laden boat but lost its trail as it headed back toward Haiti. The smugglers also have evaded the Haitian coast guard and Haitian police so far.

    Since October, the Coast Guard has stopped about 1,400 Haitian migrants fleeing the storm-wrecked, impoverished country for the United States.

    At least nine people, including a pregnant woman, died earlier this month when an overloaded boat carrying Haitians to the U.S. capsized off the Florida coast. The suspected pilot of that boat has been charged in U.S. federal court and could face the death penalty.

    "We saw just how dangerous these smuggling operations can be," Ameen said. "The way these smugglers were fleeing the Coast Guard showed a total disregard for human life and law enforcement authority. People should not entrust their lives to these smugglers."

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during an April visit to Haiti that Washington is considering requests to grant Temporary Protective Status to an estimated 30,000 Haitians who now live illegally in the United States.

    The designation blocks deportations to countries that have suffered natural disasters or conflicts and currently applies to six countries including Somalia, Sudan and El Salvador.

    But Clinton said it would likely apply only to those who had already arrived in the United States before President Barack Obama took office, saying "we don't want to encourage other Haitians to make the dangerous journey across the water."

    The news comes as Haitians and Haitian-Americans are mourning the death of Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, a 62-year-old Haitian Roman Catholic priest noted for his advocacy on behalf of migrants. He died Wednesday in Miami from stroke complications and a lung problem.

    (This version CORRECTS day of apprehension to Monday instead of Wednesday.) )

    http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... dex=107165
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    NC
    Posts
    11,242
    TPS status for "estimated" 30,000 illegal Haitians in the US? Just go to the big sugar fields in Fla. and you will find 30,000. This does not count the Haitians that have spread all over the rest of the country.
    I am getting beyond irate about the "estimated" number because no one knows anything they are spouting about. It only draws attention from the small problem we have: we don't know who the crap is here, where they came from or where they are.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •