Thread: Illegal Immigrants Caught on a Yacht, in a Web of Maritime L

Illegal Immigrants Caught on a Yacht, in a Web of Maritime Laws
By KIRK SEMPLE
Published: July 27, 2010


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Gaea Rich and her family were in full holiday mode aboard their yacht on the Fourth of July as they motored from Stamford, Conn., across Long Island Sound and into Oyster Bay, off the North Shore of Long Island.
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Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

Gaea Rich and her boyfriend, David Quinn, an immigrant from Ireland, were on board her uncle's yacht on Long Island Sound when federal officials boarded and began checking papers.

The trip, with more than 15 relatives and friends, was supposed to be the high point of a weekend family reunion. But a few hours into the cruise, after what began as an apparently routine stop by a marine patrol of local and federal law enforcement officials, two passengers — a Guatemalan caterer hired for the day and Ms. Rich’s boyfriend, David Quinn, an Irishman who had worked for years as a horse-carriage driver in Central Park — were taken away on a police boat by federal immigration officials. Both men were illegal immigrants; they now face deportation.

The yacht had been caught in a web of laws, little known outside the maritime community, that are meant to keep a tight leash on vessels that are registered in foreign countries or have traveled in international waters. And the boarding and interrogations on a pleasure craft came as quite a surprise to passengers.

“We couldn’t believe it,â€

[quote]It is frustrating for those with foreign flags, said the manager of a luxury marina in the Hamptons, who insisted on anonymity to avoid offending any of his clients. But, he added, [b]“They really can’t complain because the reason they’re foreign-flagged is to avoid paying taxes.â€