Thread: Drill helps 85 agencies prepare for Caribbean migration

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Drill helps 85 agencies prepare for Caribbean migration
By Ruth Morris
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted March 8 2007

As Rear Adm. David Kunkel studied reports that 155 Cubans had landed in South Florida -- at least one with a mysterious virus -- another 2,000 were crossing the Florida Straits in wobbly boats.

That spurred authorities from more than 85 government agencies to action, as officials launched a fleet of speedboats, readied cutters and alerted local health officials. The goal, Kunkel said, was to intercept 95 percent of those crossing the sea before they reached U.S. shores and to deter others from trying the same.

"The message is clear," he said. "Don't do that. Don't take to the sea ... it's illegal," he said.

So began the first-ever, full-scale drill to ward off a mass migration to South Florida -- a dry run designed to prepare responders in case political instability erupts in a neighboring Caribbean nation and sets off a major exodus.

Unlike an indoor communications drill in December, the two-day event that began Wednesday morning includes simulated emergencies at sea and on land. Scenarios included smugglers in speedboats heading down to Cuba to fetch relatives for paying clients here in South Florida, beach landings and an onslaught of immigrants at local processing centers.

In one drill, authorities chased down five freshly arrived immigrants played by actors after a boat dropped them off at Boynton Beach inlet. Earlier in the day, officers rounded up five others who landed at Phil Foster Park, near Singer Island. Police and immigration agents generally transferred such people to a Coast Guard cutter or local Border Patrol station.

"This is no small effort. We've been preparing for this for months," said Kunkel, head of the U.S. Coast Guard in Miami and director of the task force running the exercise. The 400-member team began planning the exercise well before Fidel Castro fell ill and handed over political power to his brother in July. But he said the simulations would use Cuba as a source country.

"It doesn't have to be from Cuba. It could be any Caribbean nation. However, we do recognize that Cuba is certainly an area where we must be prepared," Kunkel told reporters at the Emergency Operations Center in Doral, the drill's nerve center.

In an adjoining room, federal Homeland Security officials manned computer banks alongside local police representatives, health experts and FEMA coordinators. Large-screen televisions flashed maps, weather updates and information on seaports, followed by a line that read: "This is a drill."

Organizers planned to initiate mock scenarios from Key West to Palm Beach County, although even top-ranking officials involved in the exercise did not know the full details ahead of time. Instead, the task force would have to confront "inserts," or surprise developments, as the role-playing progressed.

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil said authorities were much better prepared for a mass migration today than during previous crises, such as the 1980 Mariel boatlift, which saw 125,000 Cubans arrive here.

"We have more human intelligence and we have better sharing of intelligence across different agencies ... so we have some lead time," he said. "Things have changed radically since then."

Ruth Morris can be reached at rmorris@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5012.

This exercise I would say is a failure. About 2 to 3 hours ago 19 Cubans landed at Haulover Park in Northern Miami Dade County. This has not yet been released to the media. An officer on the scene radioed dispatch to notify media relations. They have not replied yet. Miami Dade Police had aviation up to see if there were any straglers and Homeland security has been notified. I am waiting to see if the media does hear about it and reports it. It scares me in one way as how did these people know how to get around Homeland security and their exercise. Is there a leak somewhere? I often ponder on how so many of them make it to land.