Thread: Coast Guard repatriates 27 Dominicans to D. R.

Sector San Juan
U.S. Coast Guard
News Release
Date: May 26, 2010
Contact: Ricardo Castrodad
(787) 510-7923

Coast Guard repatriates 27 Dominicans to La Romana, Dominican Republic

6 detained for prosecution, 1 woman medevaced

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Farallon repatriated 27 Dominicans to La Romana, Dominican Republic Wednesday, following an at-sea interdiction by Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG) Law Enforcement authorities Monday.

The crew of the Farallon detained six Dominicans, five men and a woman, for attempting to enter illegally into the United States or a U.S. territory on at least two separate occasions. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Puerto Rico has accepted their cases for prosecution.

A Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew located a 23-foot wooden migrant vessel Monday morning, while patrolling waters west of Puerto Rico. The 34 Dominican migrants were traveling illegally to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic.

The crews of the Farallon and a Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine unit interdicted the migrant vessel, approximately 9 nautical miles west of Puerto Rico, and safely embarked 23 men and 11 women aboard the cutter. The crew of the Farallon collected biographic information, including digital fingerprints and facial photographs, of the interdicted migrants.

The Farallon rendezvoused with Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents Tuesday in Añasco, Puerto Rico, who conducted migrant interviews and took six migrants into custody.

The crew of a Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine unit medevaced another Dominican woman aboard the Farallon who showed signs of dehydration, while Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents ashore transported her to a medical facility to receive further medical care. The migrant was later released from the medical facility Tuesday and returned to Border Patrol custody.

The crew of the Farallon repatriated the remaining 27 Dominicans at approximately 1 a.m. Wednesday to La Romana, Dominican Republic, where they turned custody of the migrants over to awaiting Dominican Republic Naval authorities ashore.

Coast Guard Cutter Farallon is a 110-foot patrol boat home ported in San Juan.

The concept of CBIG resulted from a March 2006 collaboration of local Homeland Security components that effectively stemmed the increased flow of traffic across the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. In July 2006, CBIG was formally created to unify efforts of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air & Marine (A&M), Office of Field Operations (OFO), and Office of Border Patrol (OBP), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the United States Attorney ' s Office, District of Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid action (FURA) in their common goal of securing Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands against illegal maritime traffic and gaining control of our nation's Caribbean borders.

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The United States Coast Guard -- Proud History. Powerful Future.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

http://www.d7publicaffairs.com/go/doc/586/564307/

Eight Dominican aliens face criminal immigration charges

Cases prosecuted after two separate immigration events on Monday

(Thursday, May 27, 2010)

San Juan, Puerto Rico – Eight undocumented aliens from the Dominican Republic appeared today before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Justo Arenas, facing charges for various violations to current United States immigration laws.

The defendants were arrested after two separate incidents Monday morning - one on Combate beach in Cabo Rojo, and the other several miles off the coast of Rincon.

In both incidents, law enforcement components of the Caribbean Border Interagency Group responded.

The defendants Jose Vasquez-Mejia, Leonardo Aybar, Catalino Alejo-Santos, Rolando Galves-Mejia, Pedro Benjamin-Coplin, and Jose Mejia-Dishney, face charges for violation of title 8 USC 1325, which prescribes entering or attempting to enter at a place not designated as a port of entry by immigration officers.

Defendants Josefa Ramona-Rodriguez and Victor Kerry-Amparo and face charges for violation of title 8 USC 1326, which prescribes entering or attempting to enter the United States after a previous deportation, without seeking permission to enter.

Border Patrol agents interviewed all aliens, whose photo and fingerprint information was entered into biometric data systems, to document and verify for immigration and criminal history violations.

Systems revealed that the prosecuted aliens had prior criminal or immigration encounters.

The U.S. Border Patrol presented their cases to the Immigration Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office, which accepted the cases for prosecution. Assistant United States Attorney Evelyn Canals and Special United States Attorney Eugenio Lomba will prosecute the cases.

If convicted the defendants face a fine and sentence of up to two years.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release
Jeffrey Quinones
CBP Public Affairs
Phone: (787) 607-2689

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 2010_5.xml