Thread: illegals from Haiti and Jamaica

of 15 alleged illegal immigrants who came ashore in Martin facing federal charge
HUTCHINSON ISLAND A Haitian woman found on a Jupiter Island beach Sunday illegally has entered the country once before and a Jamaican man discovered on Hutchinson Island early Friday is facing a federal charge after investigators learned he was a convicted felon.

The Martin County Sheriff's Office got a call about 1:35 a.m. Friday from security at the Sailfish Point development who said they saw a group of immigrants who apparently just landed on the island, according to a federal complaint affidavit. They were wet, sandy and covered with sea salt spray and they said they left Freeport, Bahamas, about 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

They all said they paid $3,500 each to be smuggled into the country, and 14 of the 15 people caught were Haitian citizens, the affidavit states.

One of the group, Adrian John Richards, 49, the lone Jamaican citizen, admitted he had been previously arrested in 1999 in Virginia for conspiracy to distribute PCP and was sentenced to more than seven years in prison, followed by supervised release. He was released in 2005, deported back to Jamaica and said he was aware he was not allowed to re-enter the country.

He was charged Monday by criminal complaint with illegally entering the country after previously being convicted of an aggravated felony.

Meanwhile, border patrol agents discovered a Haitian woman found on a Jupiter Island beach on Sunday had previously been in the United States, said Robert Swathwood, a senior patrol agent with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which took her fingerprints and gained other information from her.

The woman, whom authorities declined to identify, is not providing officers any details on how she came here or who she came with.

"They never do," Swathwood said. "We know she came on a boat. But it's all pretty vague. It usually is, and they often lie."

Despite an extensive search using boats, helicopters, all-terrain vehicles and agents from multiple state and federal agencies, officials have been unable to find any other immigrants, the boat that brought them to shore or the site where they came ashore.

Border patrol agents will move the woman, most likely today, to the Broward County Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, where she will stay until her hearing before an immigration judge.

Because she is a repeat offender, she will probably serve a prison sentence before being deported, Swathwood said.

It is a similar situation in South Florida. They come and get caught and sent back only to try again. If they are lucky they fly here to visit but unfortunately they end up staying here as illegals.